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Homeschool Charlotte Mason Good Reads

Sounder Lesson Ideas 1: Sharecropping

October 14, 2017 by Imaan No Comments

I am starting English Literature with Bear and am quite excited about it. She is not a big fan of English like her siblings are, but I hope to make things more interesting by preparing multi-faceted lessons. I thought long and hard about which book to choose for our first study… then I came across Sounder by William H Armstrong, a book we had done as a family read-aloud when she was much younger.

Sounder is an intensely moving story – simply told so even the young can appreciate it, yet so full of meaning and nuances that an adult cannot help but be drawn into it. The characters just get right down deep into your heart, mind and bones. It is about loyalty and deep abiding love. It is about loss and struggle. Above all, it is about hope.

The story centres around a poor sharecropping black family who struggle to get by. In the winter months, when there is no crop or cash, the father goes hunting with his dog, Sounder. Lately, however, the hunting is poor and he grows more and more desperate by the day. The boy awakens one morning to the smell of ham cooking and for the first time in a long while, the family has a decent meal. There is an undercurrent of tension though, and we realise why soon enough. Three days later, the sheriff and his men barge in and arrest the father for theft. The ever-loyal Sounder tries to protect the father, but is horribly injured in the process and the family are left struggling to cope with this painful loss.

I’ll go into the detailed chapter summaries and theme analysis in future posts, God willing. For now, here are some resources you might find interesting before/while reading the book.

The place and time are not specified in Sounder (a clever technique of the author, but more on that later!) but we can guess that the story is set in the deep South, post slavery, around the beginning of the twentieth century. Slavery was abolished in 1865 and this was to provide equality under the law to the freed slaves. However, the reality was that slavery continued to exist, only in another shape and form. The freed blacks were unskilled and uneducated and too poor to buy land or seeds to farm, so many stayed with their former masters as share croppers. They would farm the land and share the profits with their landlords. With no money for supplies, the farmers would have to use their future crops as collateral and be forced to grow cash crops on their land to pay off debts. They would not be able to grow food and would then need to borrow more money to feed their families. This was, in a strange way, worse than slavery – as sharecroppers, they were in perpetual debt, fear and isolation. In slavery, they at least continued to be fed and had a place to live.

We are reading Leon’s Story by Leon Walter Tillage – a gem I found for less than $1. This is a first-person narrative of life as a sharecropper in the 1940s when lynching and Jim Crow laws were a part of everyday life. Leon had to walk miles to get to school while white kids rode on buses… he had urine thrown at him, was chased by dogs and had to endure his father’s killing by white people. Still, it is a story of hope and perseverance.

Here are some links I went through to learn about sharecropping:

  • Black History – Sharecropping
  • Slavery by Another Name
  • Debt Slavery: The Forgotten History of Sharecropping
  • “Still Livin’ Under the Bonds of Slavery”: Minnie Whitney Describes Sharecropping at the Turn-of-the-Century
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Reading time: 3 min
Homeschool Good Reads

Geography through postcards

August 31, 2012 by Imaan No Comments

I should be getting out more instead of plonking away at my laptop, but it is SWELTERING here in Islamabad and I am trying to draw up a homeschooling schedule… so, I guess I am justified? ;)

Anyway, I’ve got something to share! Marz enjoys Geography/Social Studies. We had been reading books about children from different parts of the world in June to acquaint ourselves with other cultures. The library has been a wonderful resource, but what we really wanted was some kind of human connection to enhance the experience.

Alhamdulillah, I came across a wonderful idea! Postcard swaps! There are numerous groups on yahoo – some are for homeschooling families and others, for postcard collectors. I think with parental supervision, they are safe, but for added security, you can get a PO box.

You can put together an album of postcards received, label a huge map, branch off into unit studies and research each country/city’s history… great possibilities!

I’ve joined a couple of groups and am already committed to some 30 exchanges, ma shaa Allah!

Here are some links to get you started…

  • Homeschool Exchange
  • Homeschool Shoebox Swap
  • Postcards Around the Planet
  • Postcard Heaven
  • Postcard Kids
  • Postcard Kids’ Geography Lessons
  • Postcard Plus
  • Postcrossing
  • State and Country Exchange

Update!

Here are books we have enjoyed for Geography/Social Studies:

  • Books by Miroslav Sasek a Czech artist and writer. His This Is… series is simply delightful – the illustrations are cheery with a special touch of whimsy. I purchased a few from The Home Library. They were a little pricey, but since I don’t have access to a library in Pakistan, I found them well worth the money!
  • Children Just like Me by Dorling Kindersley Publishing, in association with United Nations Children’s Fund – I had a preview of this book when I bought a condensed version from a second-hand bookstore in Islamabad. This book features children in more than 30 countries – we get a chance to visit each of them as we learn about their families, homes and food. It’s one of those books I wish I could have written :)
  • A Life like Mine by Dorling Kindersley Publishing – I bought this book a few years ago at a book sale for myself… now it will come in handy for my kids in shaa Allah. It profiles 18 children and is formatted around basic needs for survival. Leaves you counting your blessings…

Two other series we like are Child’s Day and Letters from Around the World:

  • Child’s Day: Bongani’s Day by Gisele Wulfsohn
  • Child’s Day: In a Vietnamese City by Jim Holmes & Tom Morgan
  • Child’s Day: In an Egyptian City by Khaled Eldash & Dalia Khattab
  • Child’s Day: Iina Marja’s Day (From Dawn to Dusk) by Jaako Alatalo
  • Letters from Around the World: France by Teresa Fisher (author)
  • Letters from Around the World: Spain by Cath Senker
  • Letters from Around the World: Pakistan by David Cumming
  • Letters from Around the World: Costa Rica by Patrick Cunningham & Sue Cunningham
  • Letters from Around the World: Greece by David Cumming
  • Letters from Around the World: Canada by Andy Orchard & Clare Orchard

I also found a set of books called Maya’s World by Maya Angelou about children from different parts of the world. This is a good introduction to other people and cultures.

(Credit: Postcard photo from Pexels)

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Reading time: 2 min
Homeschool Good Reads

Hooked on…

June 10, 2007 by Imaan 7 Comments
goodreads

My friend Lisa has well and truly created a monster… no, TWO! She has got both Ms M and me positively addicted to goodreads. I think from the looks of it, my 5-year-old will outdo me!

So, join us and share our favourite reads and wishlists:

  • Ms M’s good reads – she will review all the yummy books for children
  • My good reads – I get to review Islamic (an excuse to shop!) and the boring ol’ adult books *heh*

To borrow Lisa’s words, let’s book brag! *S*

psssst: Add us as friends, K?

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Reading time: 1 min
Homeschool Good Reads

Good Finds at the Library – 1

May 22, 2007 by Imaan 3 Comments

Umm Nassim, this is for you :)

I know I said that I am not a library person but what is one to do when there are no decent second-hand bookstores (this is the one thing I miss about Pakistan!) and one’s kids read more than one can afford? I got premium membership for Ms M and I and with lil Bear’s membership, we get to borrow 20 books at a time!

I don’t have time to write out reviews/summaries yet – in shaa Allah soon – but these are some books we have enjoyed:

Fiction… some with lovely illustrations!

  • Abbie in Stitches by Cynthia Cotten (author), Beth Peck (illustrator)
  • Bottled Sunshine by Andrea Spalding (author), Ruth Ohi (illustrator)
  • Different Just Like Me by Lori Mitchell (author)
  • Dolphin Boy by Michael Morpurgo (author), Michael Foreman (illustrator)
  • Finding Joy by Marion Coste (author), Yong Chen (illustrator)
  • Kamishibai Man by Allen Say
  • Katie’s Wish by Barbara Shook Hazen (author), Emily Arnold McCully (illustrator)
  • Martha by Gennady Spirin
  • On My Way to Buy Eggs by Chih-Yuan Chen
  • Speak English for Us, Marisol! by Karen English (author), Enrique O. Sanchez (illustrator)
  • Stranger in the Mirror by Allen Say
  • The Butterfly by Patricia Polacco
  • The Falling Flowers by Jennifer B. Reed (author), Dick Cole (illustrator)
  • The Gardener by Sarah Stewart (author), David Small (illustrator)
  • The Memory String by Eve Bunting (author), Ted Rand (illustrator)
  • The Prince of Butterflies by Bruce Coville (author), John Clapp (illustrator)
  • The Sea Chest by Toni Buzzeo (author), Mary GrandPre (illustrator)
  • The Silver Swan by Michael Morpurgo (author), Christian Birmingham (illustrator)
  • The Snow Bear by Miriam Moss (author), Maggie Kneen (illustrator)
  • The Sound of Colors: A Journey of the Imagination by Jimmy Liao (author)
  • The Yellow Leaf by Hasan Terani (author), Mahasti Mir (illustrator)
  • Waiting for May by Janet Morgan Stoeke
  • Wake Up, City! by Alvin Tresselt (author), Carolyn Ewing (illustrator)

Learning about Other Cultures

  • Child’s Day: Bongani’s Day by Gisele Wulfsohn
  • Child’s Day: In a Vietnamese City by Jim Holmes & Tom Morgan
  • Child’s Day: In an Egyptian City by Khaled Eldash & Dalia Khattab
  • Child’s Day: Iina Marja’s Day (From Dawn to Dusk) by Jaako Alatalo
  • Ms. Frizzle’s Adventures: Ancient Egypt by Joanna Cole (author), Bruce Degen (illustrator)
  • Ms. Frizzle’s Adventures: Imperial China by Joanna Cole (author), Bruce Degen (illustrator)
  • Letters from Around the World: France by Teresa Fisher (author)
  • Letters from Around the World: Spain by Cath Senker
  • Letters from Around the World: Pakistan by David Cumming
  • Letters from Around the World: Costa Rica by Patrick Cunningham & Sue Cunningham
  • Letters from Around the World: Greece by David Cumming
  • Letters from Around the World: Canada by Andy Orchard & Clare Orchard

Science
We’re doing birds now that we are done with mammals (well, just about…).

  • Birds: Nature’s Magnificent Flying Machines by Caroline Arnold (author), Patricia J. Wynne (illustrator)
  • DK Guide to Birds by Ben Morgan
  • Penguins by Lynn M Stone

Books both Ms M & Bear liked

  • Can You Cuddle Like a Koala? by John Butler
  • Honey Baby Sugar Child by Alice Faye Duncan (author), Susan Keeter (illustrator)
  • I Love You Just the Way You Are (Bartholomew & George) by Virginia Miller
  • Little Bunny’s Bedtime! by Jane Johnson (author), Gaby Hansen (illustrator)
  • You’re All My Favourites by Sam McBratney
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Reading time: 2 min
Homeschool Charlotte Mason Good Reads

Chapter Books We Like, Part 2

December 2, 2006 by Imaan 2 Comments

1. The Nine Lives of Montezuma by Michael Morpurgo
This chronicles the life of Montezuma, a ginger tom with a white patch on his throat. He has to fight for his life from the outset – as a newborn, he survives despite attacks from a barn owl, the attempts of a farmer to drown his siblings and abandonment from his neglectful mother. He is rescued by the farmer’s son, Matthew, and becomes a permanent and much-loved fixture in the household.

What follows are the many brushes Monty has with death. First, he gets his head stuck in a tin before hurling up a tree and falling in a pond. Then, he becomes involved in a violent fight with the farm dog, Sam, over Sunday roast left-overs. Next, he is stranded in a snowdrift and a brutal fight with a rival tom. He watches over Matthew who grows up and takes over the farm. But all creatures must face death and Montezuma dies, leaving behind fond memories…

2. Under the Hawthorne Tree by Marita Conlon-McKenna
I discovered this gem quite by accident and almost gave it a miss. I bought it for a mere 50 rupees (SG$1!!). This award-winning novel deals with the the Great Irish Famine that ravaged Ireland in the 1840s. The story centres around the O’Driscolls, the average Irish family who are tenant farmers, dependent on potatoes as their main source of food. Tragedy strikes in the form of “the Blight” – a disease that destroys the potato crops – and what ensues is extensive starvation.

Eily (who is 12), Michael (10) and Peggy (7) O’Driscoll have coped with heartbreak upon heartbreak. Their parents left to find work but have gone missing and their baby sister Bridget is dead and buried under the hawthorne tree. Their village is devastated and farmers are being evicted by the landowners. Surrounded by disaster and the threat of being sent to the workhouse, the children are determined to survive and stay together.

Armed with nothing but courage and love, they embark on a perilous journey across Ireland to find their great-aunts, Nano and Lena, whom they have only heard about in their mother’s stories. The children sleep in the open and forage for food in the wild and in the farms of dead tenants. They are confronted with death at every turn. They see bodies of those who died with no one to mourn or pray over them and they see the living dead – those so traumatised that they are but shells of their former selves.

When the O’Driscoll children arrive in Ballycarbery, they see the ships loaded with food bound for England. It is a painful and bitter pill to swallow – the landlords were making money while their countrymen were falling dead from starvation. And indeed, that is the irony of those horrific years – it was only the potato crop that failed; wheat, oats and meat were in excellent supply but they were shipped out to England. It is said that a million and a half people died during these dark years and another million emigrated.

Read about how Eily, Michael and Peggy push every fibre of their being to stay alive and find a better home. This book is part of a trilogy – the other books in the series are Wildflower Girl and Fields of Home. I haven’t read these, but if you have tell me about them! The book has also been made into a film and study guides are available at O’Brien Press.

Update: We found Wildflower Girl in a little bookshop in Islamabad! It is good… review later in shaa Allah…

3. The Akimbo books by Alexander McCall-Smith
Alexander McCall Smith was born in Zimbabwe was educated there and in Scotland. A Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, he is a best-selling author of adults’ books but proves that he is equally adept with younger audiences. I was told about his books by a fellow homeschooler who adores books. We went on a hunt and were rewarded with a box set that was in perfect condition!

The set features Akimbo and the Elephants, Akimbo and the Lions and Akimbo and the Crocodile Man. (There is another book out there Akimbo and the Snakes that we have not read, so if you see it, give me a shout OK?)*

Akimbo is a young, adventurous African boy who lives in a large game reserve where his father is a head ranger. He is passionate about animal conservation and goes through great lengths to protect them. In Akimbo and the Elephants, Akimbo helps to bring down an elephant poaching ring. In Akimbo and the Lions, he helps to raise a lion cub and becomes attached to it. However he knows that Simba belongs in the wild. It is a heartbreaking moment when he releases Simba. (Oh how Ms M cried!) In Akimbo and the Crocodile Man, our resourceful friend is given the chance to accompany John the Crocodile man who is doing research on a batch of crocodiles. During a trip, John is attacked by an angry croc. It is a race against time as Akimbo braves dangerous waters to get help for his friend. Ms M loved the bit where Akimbo hotwires a truck, drives it and barely misses crashing into a tree!

I loved this series just as much as Ms M did. The descriptions are simple and yet incredibly detailed and will transport you to the beautiful African continent. We finished each book in one sitting and liked the charming black and white illustrations by Peter Bailey. I’d recommend this for both boys and girls who are getting into chapter books.

* Update: We have read Akimbo and the Snakes – nice stuff!

OK more in Part 3 – kids are hankering for breakfast!

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Reading time: 4 min
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Yesterday, I had a sobering chat with my friend wh Yesterday, I had a sobering chat with my friend who is a member of a minority group here. (I am keeping things vague for her safety and mine.) She has a relative who is also a friend of mine. 

In both my early encounters with them, I’d always sensed an air of reserve and secrecy. I understood that we had different beliefs, but I could not understand what I perceived as fear. Not being a native here in Pakistan, I’d had my share of bewildering and unfathomable encounters, so I’d left things at that. Maybe I’d understand in time to come, I thought.

They had always been very kind to me and I tried to reciprocate as best I could. For all our (acknowledged) differences in opinion and belief, we found some common ground and focused on doing some good. My friend’s relative donated science kits as well as books for my homeschooling gang and I’ll always be grateful for that. 

I read news yesterday about how my friend and her people do in fact live in danger. She told me how she fears for her husband’s life every single time he leaves home. She jumps every single time her doorbell rings. She worries about sending her daughter to school for fear of bullying or worse… Target killings of her people are a reality.

It made me feel so ashamed because this is tragic and downright disgraceful for any country, but even more so for a Muslim one. 

It’s OK to disagree. It’s OK to debate. It is NOT OK to terrorize and it is NOT OK resort to violence. It is wrong and it is unjust and it is EVIL to do so. When dealing with people of different beliefs, can we not be civilised? Can we not be HUMAN? Can we not behave the way our deen taught us? 

We need to find a way to make things better. It is not right to allow people who know precious little about Islam to desecrate it. 

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#islam #minorityrights #knowyourreligion #pakistan
Journalists say this time it is different. Rushdi Journalists say this time it is different.

Rushdi as-Sarraj, Yasser Murtaja’s friend, told Al-Jazeera, “This task is difficult under normal circumstances, so you can imagine working under a fierce offensive that does not distinguish between a journalist, a civilian or a military leader.” Israel is working hard “to silence the image and voice, and to ban any news or information that exposes its crimes”.

He also says, “My family doesn’t stop calling me, fearing that I could be harmed. It is an endless circle of fear and exhaustion. But we must continue sharing our message.”

Praying for Muna El-Kurd @muna.kurd15 , her brother @mohammedelkurd and all the journalists putting out the truth. 

#palestine #freepalestine #freemunakurd #freemunaelkurd #savesheikhjarrah #savesilwan #savelifta #savemohammedelkurd
«THROWBACK, Summer + Winter 2019» «We returned «THROWBACK, Summer + Winter 2019»

«We returned to the park after the lockdown earlier this year… sadly our tree for all seasons is no more 😢»

FOREIGN LANDS by Robert Louis Stevenson
Up into the cherry tree
Who should climb but little me?
I held the trunk with both my hands
And looked abroad on foreign lands.
I saw the next door garden lie,
Adorned with flowers, before my eye,
And many pleasant places more
That I had never seen before.
If I could find a higher tree
Farther and farther I should see,
To where the grown-up river slips
Into the sea among the ships.
To where the roads on either hand
Lead onward into fairy land,
Where all the children dine at five,
And all the playthings come alive.
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#throwback #pakistan #islamabad #lifeinpakistan #lifeinislamabad #homeschool #homeschooldays #homeschoolcoop #homeschoolinislamabad #homeschoolinpakistan #naturediary #naturejournal #science #charlottemason #charlottemasoninspired #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonnaturestudy #charlottemasonliving #charlottemasonhomeschool #cmnaturestudy #cmnaturejournal #naturewalk #natureramble #naturestudy #naturejournal #homeeducation #outandabout #ilookisee #islamabadhomeschoolers
A couple of you asked me to make a post of my stor A couple of you asked me to make a post of my story in response to LV’s despicable use of the keffiyeh design. Pictures in this post are from hirbawi.ps and @palestine.pixel … 

EDIT: yes, my second slide should have been edited and it is bugging me. I repeated 1930s… sorry! If you want a more polished version, DM me. You get my meaning anyway, right? 
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#palestine #freepalestine #keffiyeh #gaza #jerusalem #savesheikhjarrah
«YET ANOTHER THROWBACK, Jan. 2020» I was feelin «YET ANOTHER THROWBACK, Jan. 2020»

I was feeling a little out of sorts (again) – I’d left the house a mess (again) and the boy and I were in a rush to get to the Art Co-op. Habiba @ourlivinghomeschool was doing a session on Wassily Kandinsky that day. 

We were delayed by a massive traffic jam and our stress levels rocketed when an obnoxious motorist kept sounding his horn repeatedly as if to shoo other cars out of the way. What was everyone else to do but wait for the jam to ease? 

We made it just in time though…barely! As we ran towards the gathering, it was as if a huge weight was lifted away. This gorgeous view greeted the boy and me, alhamdulillah. When we got down to studying Kandinsky, we felt more than fine.

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#pakistan #islamabad #lifeinpakistan #lifeinislamabad #homeschool #homeschooldays #homeschoolcoop #homeschoolinislamabad #homeschoolinpakistan #naturediary #desidiaries #charlottemason #charlottemasoninspired #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonnaturestudy #charlottemasonliving #charlottemasonhomeschool #cmnaturestudy #cmnaturejournal #naturewalk #natureramble #naturestudy #naturejournal #homeeducation #outandabout #ilookisee #islamabadhomeschoolers #artcoop #artoutdoors
«THROWBACK, Mar. 2019» Once upon a time before «THROWBACK, Mar. 2019» 
Once upon a time before Covid.

The calm before…

We had our Monday meet up again at Fatima Jinnah Park. The air was cool and crisp and the skies sunny when the nature gang got together. Then, it was on to a jolly game of Simon Says – Katelynn’s @_k8erpotater clever way of teaching the kids about body parts and how they move.

The kids did their usual tree climbing and exploring. Then, the dark clouds started rolling in. We took a while to decide whether or not to leave – the park literally looked dark and ominous on one side and cheery and bright on the other. We only started rushing for home when lightning split the sky. The kids were not to be hurried, however. They felt little pellets hitting them and stopped to investigate… hailstones!

Our ramble was cut short and I got cold and wet, but I think it was a gorgeous day. We got to learn about nature in a very real way.
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#pakistan #islamabad #lifeinpakistan #lifeinislamabad #homeschool #homeschooldays #homeschoolcoop #homeschoolinislamabad #homeschoolinpakistan #naturediary #naturejournal #science #charlottemason #charlottemasoninspired #charlottemasoneducation #charlottemasonnaturestudy #charlottemasonliving #charlottemasonhomeschool #cmnaturestudy #cmnaturejournal #naturewalk #natureramble #naturestudy #naturejournal #homeeducation #outandabout #ilookisee #islamabadhomeschoolers
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