Well-Educated Mother's Heart
Month 9: Writing
John Milton, who gave the world Paradise Lost, rejected the idea of school compositions, calling it "forcing the empty wits of children to compose themes, verse and orations, which are the acts of ripest judgment, and the final work of a head filled by long reading and observing."
"If thou wouldst write, thou must first live." (from this month's Mother's Learning Library)
"If thou wouldst write, thou must first live." (from this month's Mother's Learning Library)
Here's a TED talk to get you thinking about the power of the pen.
Mother's Learning Library: Volume 9
There are 3 sections in this month's volume on Writing. First, I included an entire book with tips for young writers. Its approach is unlike any I have read anywhere else. While our modern approach is to focus on the mechanics of writing, this is a reminder that all great writing flows from the heart. Then I included a little book called 'Grammar-land' that teaches the parts of speech in a fun story-like way. It's a story you may want to share with your children or you can read it to clarify the parts of speech for yourself. Finally, I included Strunk's Elements of Style. This is the classic straightforward and to-the-point manual for writing well with a review of punctuation and other writing basics. It's not that the mechanics aren't important, it's that focusing on them too soon kills a love of writing before it takes root. E.B. White, who wrote Charlotte's Web, added some of his own suggestions in a later edition which can be read online, but it's not in public domain so I couldn't include it in this printed copy.
There are 3 sections in this month's volume on Writing. First, I included an entire book with tips for young writers. Its approach is unlike any I have read anywhere else. While our modern approach is to focus on the mechanics of writing, this is a reminder that all great writing flows from the heart. Then I included a little book called 'Grammar-land' that teaches the parts of speech in a fun story-like way. It's a story you may want to share with your children or you can read it to clarify the parts of speech for yourself. Finally, I included Strunk's Elements of Style. This is the classic straightforward and to-the-point manual for writing well with a review of punctuation and other writing basics. It's not that the mechanics aren't important, it's that focusing on them too soon kills a love of writing before it takes root. E.B. White, who wrote Charlotte's Web, added some of his own suggestions in a later edition which can be read online, but it's not in public domain so I couldn't include it in this printed copy.
Other reading:
Stories of Great Writers has just been added to our Great Lives Series and brings you face to face with some of the great writers who reveal their personal stories and what inspired them to write..
When you're ready to learn the art of composition, this is a great read from 1897. Not only will you gain a quick review of proper grammar and punctuation, you will find many practical tips for becoming a good writer.
Young People's Story of American Literature by Ida Whitcomb will give you a sweeping view of writing in America.
Stories of Great Writers has just been added to our Great Lives Series and brings you face to face with some of the great writers who reveal their personal stories and what inspired them to write..
When you're ready to learn the art of composition, this is a great read from 1897. Not only will you gain a quick review of proper grammar and punctuation, you will find many practical tips for becoming a good writer.
Young People's Story of American Literature by Ida Whitcomb will give you a sweeping view of writing in America.
Articles
- 3 reasons children today can't write, practical ideas taken from 1897 book listed above
- A jab at the direction of academic writing.
- The wrong way to teach grammar.
- Does handwriting really matter?
- Brain research and cursive writing
- Some thoughts on handwriting methods
Penmanship
My mother had/has the most beautiful penmanship. Her 95 year old eyes are fading and her arthritic hand is shaking, but she still carefully crafts everything she writes. When I was a little girl, I'd notice that when she was talking on the phone, she'd pull out a piece of scratch paper and start drawing circles and lines all over it. I was fascinated by it and copied what she was doing. Even today, I find myself doodling with the same circles and lines. Well, when I was looking for some penmanship books for fun in the old classic books, the first one that popped up was the Palmer method. And when I opened it up, there were all the familiar exercises from my childhood! After all these year, I finally understand what these doodles were all about. If you've ever wanted beautiful penmanship, and are willing to craft the art, I'm sure the Palmer method will get you there. Here's the book I found: The Palmer Method
Here are the top 6 handwriting picks of Jamie Martin at Simple Homeschooling.
My mother had/has the most beautiful penmanship. Her 95 year old eyes are fading and her arthritic hand is shaking, but she still carefully crafts everything she writes. When I was a little girl, I'd notice that when she was talking on the phone, she'd pull out a piece of scratch paper and start drawing circles and lines all over it. I was fascinated by it and copied what she was doing. Even today, I find myself doodling with the same circles and lines. Well, when I was looking for some penmanship books for fun in the old classic books, the first one that popped up was the Palmer method. And when I opened it up, there were all the familiar exercises from my childhood! After all these year, I finally understand what these doodles were all about. If you've ever wanted beautiful penmanship, and are willing to craft the art, I'm sure the Palmer method will get you there. Here's the book I found: The Palmer Method
Here are the top 6 handwriting picks of Jamie Martin at Simple Homeschooling.
Spelling
Just a word on spelling. OK, maybe more than a word. It seems as though the world is divided between those who can spell and those who can't. I am one of those people who can look at a word and determine if it's spelled correctly or not. I never had to study for spelling tests. Yet, I had friends who could practice and practice and practice and still miss the words on the spelling tests. Thankfully, spell check is a wonderful tool for the spelling challenged. There's no shame in using it! There is a story of Robert Louis Stevenson in this month's Stories of Great Writers book that reveals he was a horrible speller. But that didn't prevent him from sharing his huge heart with the rest of the world. So, if your child struggles with spelling, take heart! He is in good company. Don't stress over it.
Why Some Kids Can't Spell and Why Spelling Tests Won't Help
Why Stevie Can't Spell -- A professional writer sets out to find out why he can't spell. An insightful read.
There are spelling programs out there, but most children learn to spell through copy work and writing. I wouldn't give them random spelling lists... if they're able to learn by a list, let that list be of words they have misspelled in their writing.
Rachel deMIlle (a familiar name to many moms in this group) has had good success with this little book.
Here is why the English language is so difficult to spell!
English Pronunciation
If you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world.
After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he’d prefer six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud.
Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.
Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation’s OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Fe0ffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won’t it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!
English Pronunciation by G. Nolst Trenité
Just a word on spelling. OK, maybe more than a word. It seems as though the world is divided between those who can spell and those who can't. I am one of those people who can look at a word and determine if it's spelled correctly or not. I never had to study for spelling tests. Yet, I had friends who could practice and practice and practice and still miss the words on the spelling tests. Thankfully, spell check is a wonderful tool for the spelling challenged. There's no shame in using it! There is a story of Robert Louis Stevenson in this month's Stories of Great Writers book that reveals he was a horrible speller. But that didn't prevent him from sharing his huge heart with the rest of the world. So, if your child struggles with spelling, take heart! He is in good company. Don't stress over it.
Why Some Kids Can't Spell and Why Spelling Tests Won't Help
Why Stevie Can't Spell -- A professional writer sets out to find out why he can't spell. An insightful read.
There are spelling programs out there, but most children learn to spell through copy work and writing. I wouldn't give them random spelling lists... if they're able to learn by a list, let that list be of words they have misspelled in their writing.
Rachel deMIlle (a familiar name to many moms in this group) has had good success with this little book.
Here is why the English language is so difficult to spell!
English Pronunciation
If you can pronounce correctly every word in this poem, you will be speaking English better than 90% of the native English speakers in the world.
After trying the verses, a Frenchman said he’d prefer six months of hard labour to reading six lines aloud.
Dearest creature in creation,
Study English pronunciation.
I will teach you in my verse
Sounds like corpse, corps, horse, and worse.
I will keep you, Suzy, busy,
Make your head with heat grow dizzy.
Tear in eye, your dress will tear.
So shall I! Oh hear my prayer.
Just compare heart, beard, and heard,
Dies and diet, lord and word,
Sword and sward, retain and Britain.
(Mind the latter, how it’s written.)
Now I surely will not plague you
With such words as plaque and ague.
But be careful how you speak:
Say break and steak, but bleak and streak;
Cloven, oven, how and low,
Script, receipt, show, poem, and toe.
Hear me say, devoid of trickery,
Daughter, laughter, and Terpsichore,
Typhoid, measles, topsails, aisles,
Exiles, similes, and reviles;
Scholar, vicar, and cigar,
Solar, mica, war and far;
One, anemone, Balmoral,
Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel;
Gertrude, German, wind and mind,
Scene, Melpomene, mankind.
Billet does not rhyme with ballet,
Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet.
Blood and flood are not like food,
Nor is mould like should and would.
Viscous, viscount, load and broad,
Toward, to forward, to reward.
And your pronunciation’s OK
When you correctly say croquet,
Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve,
Friend and fiend, alive and live.
Ivy, privy, famous; clamour
And enamour rhyme with hammer.
River, rival, tomb, bomb, comb,
Doll and roll and some and home.
Stranger does not rhyme with anger,
Neither does devour with clangour.
Souls but foul, haunt but aunt,
Font, front, wont, want, grand, and grant,
Shoes, goes, does. Now first say finger,
And then singer, ginger, linger,
Real, zeal, mauve, gauze, gouge and gauge,
Marriage, foliage, mirage, and age.
Query does not rhyme with very,
Nor does fury sound like bury.
Dost, lost, post and doth, cloth, loth.
Job, nob, bosom, transom, oath.
Though the differences seem little,
We say actual but victual.
Refer does not rhyme with deafer.
Fe0ffer does, and zephyr, heifer.
Mint, pint, senate and sedate;
Dull, bull, and George ate late.
Scenic, Arabic, Pacific,
Science, conscience, scientific.
Liberty, library, heave and heaven,
Rachel, ache, moustache, eleven.
We say hallowed, but allowed,
People, leopard, towed, but vowed.
Mark the differences, moreover,
Between mover, cover, clover;
Leeches, breeches, wise, precise,
Chalice, but police and lice;
Camel, constable, unstable,
Principle, disciple, label.
Petal, panel, and canal,
Wait, surprise, plait, promise, pal.
Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair,
Senator, spectator, mayor.
Tour, but our and succour, four.
Gas, alas, and Arkansas.
Sea, idea, Korea, area,
Psalm, Maria, but malaria.
Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean.
Doctrine, turpentine, marine.
Compare alien with Italian,
Dandelion and battalion.
Sally with ally, yea, ye,
Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, and key.
Say aver, but ever, fever,
Neither, leisure, skein, deceiver.
Heron, granary, canary.
Crevice and device and aerie.
Face, but preface, not efface.
Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.
Large, but target, gin, give, verging,
Ought, out, joust and scour, scourging.
Ear, but earn and wear and tear
Do not rhyme with here but ere.
Seven is right, but so is even,
Hyphen, roughen, nephew Stephen,
Monkey, donkey, Turk and jerk,
Ask, grasp, wasp, and cork and work.
Pronunciation (think of Psyche!)
Is a paling stout and spikey?
Won’t it make you lose your wits,
Writing groats and saying grits?
It’s a dark abyss or tunnel:
Strewn with stones, stowed, solace, gunwale,
Islington and Isle of Wight,
Housewife, verdict and indict.
Finally, which rhymes with enough,
Though, through, plough, or dough, or cough?
Hiccough has the sound of cup.
My advice is to give up!!!
English Pronunciation by G. Nolst Trenité