The Mother Tongue, Book I: Lessons in Speaking, Reading and Writing English · Secs. 425–426 · Part 2: Part Second
117. The Shepherdess, and an artist's life
Goal: Your child talks about a famous painting and writes an organized account of the painter from what they learn.
You'll need
- The book, open to this lesson
- Paper and pencil (a notebook kept just for this book works well)
- A library book or encyclopedia article about Millet
What's in the book
Section 425 is Jean François Millet's painting "The Shepherdess", to study and talk about. Section 426 says Millet was a great French artist (1814 to 1875) and asks the child to learn about his life and work and write it out, arranged as in Section 340.
The lesson, step by step
Study the picture
Look at "The Shepherdess" on page 281 together for a full minute. Talk: What is the girl doing? What is around her? What time of day? What feeling does the picture give you?
Find out about Millet
Read a short account of Millet together. Look at a few more of his paintings if you can.
Arrange it (Section 340)
Your child answers the same questions as before: When did he live? Where? For what is he noted? What was his character? What works made him famous?
Write it out
Your child writes an account of 6 to 10 sentences, in their own words, in two short paragraphs: his life, then his paintings.
Check it gently
Check facts against your source. Then ask: Does each paragraph stick to its topic? Fix one thing.
What a good result looks like
Example (written for this guide, not from the book):
Jean François Millet was a French painter who lived from 1814 to 1875. He painted country people at their work: shepherdesses, sowers and women gathering grain.
His pictures show plain, hard-working people with great respect. ...
Tip
The reading and the writing can be two separate days.