Shakespeare, Week One

Remember how excited I was to start Shakespeare with Michael? Well, a week into it and I'm still excited! One of my favorite parts about homeschooling is getting to be the one to introduce books and stories I love to my kids.

We're using the Charles and Mary Lamb adaptations, Tales from Shakespeare. I remember reading these in Mr. Garbrick's seventh grade English class, back in the day.

I also found a great book from the library called Starting with Shakespeare. This book has lots of great ideas for making Shakespeare accessible to kids without dumbing it down or trying to be too trendy, two approaches that always send Michael running for the hills.

We started with The Tempest. We've also been reviewing adjectives, so Michael drew the five major characters and included adjectives to describe them all.
He also did some copywork from the play.
We read some of the original play, including Come Unto These Yellow Sands

COME unto these yellow sands,
And then take hands:
Court'sied when you have, and kiss'd,—
The wild waves whist,—
Foot it featly here and there;	5
And, sweet sprites, the burthen bear.
Hark, hark!
Bow, wow,
The watch-dogs bark:
Bow, wow.	10
Hark, hark! I hear
The strain of strutting chanticleer
Cry, Cock-a-diddle-dow!

and Where the Bee Sucks, There Suck I
Where the bee sucks, there suck I:
In a cowslip’s bell I lie;
There I couch when owls do cry.
On the bat’s back I do fly.
After summer merrily:
Merrily, merrily, shall I live now
Under the blossom that hangs on the bough.

We looked at art inspired by The Tempest as well, and talked about the appeal of "stranded on a desert island" stories.

Finally, inspired by this lesson plan, we watch Cast Away together. This led to some really great discussion.

Next we read A Midsummer Night's Dream. I had to giggle when Michael complained about how frustratingly confusing it was, and I could tell he felt relieved when we learned it was Shakespeare's intent that the play be a bit confusing and difficult to follow.

Michael made a map of the fairyland in the story.


And since we were discussing similes, he did a page of similes for Puck.
He chose 4 characters and drew their pictures, copying some of their words from the original Shakespeare.




Some other activities included discussing laws and customs of Greece, discussing Helena and journaling about things he had a choice about and things he didn't, and memorizing Nick Bottom's speech:

Let me play the lion too: I will roar, that I will
do any man's heart good to hear me; I will roar,
that I will make the duke say 'Let him roar again,
let him roar again.'

Michael likes roaring.

We also spent some time this week learning who Shakespeare was and where he fit in history. Here is Michael's timeline.

And last, but not least, the cover of his main lesson book:
I'm not sure who first said "virtue is its own reward," but it wasn't Shakespeare. Michael, however, thought it a very Shakesperian thing to say. He did say, however, "Assume a virtue if you have it not."

Starting with Shakespeare

I am really, really, really, really, really excited for Michael's main lesson block this month. It's not a fifth grade Waldorf block, but rather recommended reading from Ambleside Online, a Charlotte Mason homeschooling curriculum. We're starting with Shakespeare this month!

When I was in college, I remember reading a book called by E. D. Hirsch, Jr called Cultural Literacy. Cultural literacy is the idea that we, as a culture, have a shared bank of idioms, allusions, stories, slang, and other informal content that we draw from in order to communicate with one another. One of the points of the book is that we, as Americans, are losing that cultural literacy. I remember one example being that children no longer could be counted on to know nursery rhymes. One of the things that drew me to Waldorf education was its recognition of the rich heritage to be found in nursery rhymes, fairy tales, and children's songs.

What better example of shared culture than Shakespeare?! We'll be using the Charles and Mary Lamb adaptations-- another thing I remember well from my childhood-- and started today with The Tempest. Of course, we'll also include a good bit of the original Shakespeare as well.

I'm very excited to start this main lesson block with Michael. I'm not sure he shares my enthusiasm, though. His take on Romeo and Juliet? "Well, the part where everyone dies sounds interesting, but the kissing part? YUCK!"

He is, after all, still a ten-year-old boy.

So, what's your favorite Shakespeare tale? I'd love to know!