Monday 8 September 2008

Breakfast with a side order of education

'But some of the greatest gains from home education are not easily measured or
tested. They come from the daily flow of conversation - the times when your
child asks you a question and a conversation follows.'


This is quoted from an article in The Times and it summed up neatly my experience. Since our 'term' officially started last week, we have had Classic FM on the radio while we have eaten breakfast. As I said on Friday , we have heard some of the music of Handel, leading us to find out where Sheba actually was (Yemen, apparently) and which of the King Georges Handel wrote for and what happened when the Firework music was first played. Today, the Waltz from Swan Lake was on and this led us to remember seeing The Nutcracker last winter and to look up Tchaikovsky in the encyclopedia. Little snippets of random information but, I'm sure, understood and remembered because they come out of interest and in context.

Later on, while I was doing some housework upstairs, my middle son called me with that distinct note of urgency in his voice. I hurried into the kitchen ready for blood or broken crockery or both.
"Mum, listen! It's the music for the Royal Fireworks!" he told me with a big grin.

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