"The Living Page" Book Discussion Post 2: Nature Notebooks

Nature notebooks...what can I say...they have become dear friends in our education.  Those who are first introduced to Charlotte Mason always gravitate to her prescribed "Nature Study" and time outdoors.  Bestvater gently reminds us:

"Thus, it would seem that from the beginning, the Nature Notebook was not just about dry air brush technique or a sweet Victorian pastime, rather it was a symbol of much of Mason's pedagogy: her respect for children, her early leanings toward "scouting," and her commitment to the outdoor classroom and nature as teacher." pg 19

She fills this section with quotes from various sources, including Mason's own works.  I, myself, gravitated to nature study very quickly and have been so grateful to have found the worth in using the outdoors as classroom.  I loved reading Volume 1 Home Education and finding those bits of wisdom which validated the essence and abilities of the young child.  Specifically, as Bestvater notes (emphasis mine):

"The Nature Notebooks represent a way of life-a lifetime habit formed "as soon as he is able" but essentially an approach to Nature and consequently, to Science, indeed all of life, through the habit." pg 19

I've gone back and checked my post labels and discovered that one third of my post have something to do with "Nature."  It was a wonderful for me to see that because a lot of our learning happens outdoors.  Our nature walks/hikes always brings out the best curiosity in my children and this always translates into wanting to know more. 

These are some samples from my children's notebooks.  A few of my nature loving kids have already filled a few notebooks or have been so lovingly used that they've come apart.  So as you can tell from the top picture we continue to try new notebooks and so far these have held well.  I'm happy with the blue notebook because it is thread bound and has few pages.  I bought this as a three pack blank page notebook from Target.  I like it because it's sturdy for my 5 yr old and it is not overwhelming.  They are thin and as he grows up the notebook will change ; )

The idea of Nature Notebook Lists is not new as a concept to me but I'll shyly admit not one that I practice.  I was at the doctor's office with my nature loving 10 yr old daughter while I read to her this small section.  We were both happy to hear:

"The lists seem to vary slightly for plants and birds (and likely insects); perhaps they even varied among students, suggesting that there is more than one way to record what was wanted." pg 23

A list can be and become what we choose.  Hurray, takes some pressure off being just right.  Then again...so it is with our nature notebooks.  The lists have just become one of those things that I've been afraid to commit too.  She was inspired and has been planning how to add her list of insects (since she is currently reading Memoria Press' Book of Insects Reader which includes Arabella Buckley's "Eyes and No Eyes: Book VI, Insect Life") to the end of her nature notebook. 

The next section talks about Scrapbooks/Collections.  I've never required that the kids collect or keep their finds.  Somehow this too just naturally comes about.  So, I began to have a nature study table where the kids can bring their collections from walks and let them "hang out" for the season.  If the treasures are able they will end up in a mason jar...in a collection of sorts...and a few have even began to hide their treasures in their notebooks...

The last point I want to mention is the idea of Nature and Outdoor Clubs.  Bestvater mentions the role they had CM schools/groups.  I do love this. 

"Collecting is less about amassing finds than ensuring this personal connection.  This is supported by bringing together likeminded friends and useful resources." pg 24

If you recall I wrote a small post of our attempts at such a group.  While our MeetUp group didn't last our CM-CoOp continued the spirit.  We meet once a month specifically for Nature Study/Science.  Our kids divide into two groups.  The moms leading are prepared with appropriate reading(s) and even presentations sometime.  At the end of our session both groups are working in their nature notebooks.  Our reading/talk sometimes inspires their nature finds other times it is just what moves them, but an entry is made before they are off to play in the outdoors.  I love this idea because I do have a few children who don't always race to their notebooks so this at least gives them the opportunity to consistently make an entry.

Don't forget to follow the discussion here too:

Wildflowers and Marbles
 

"The Living Page" Book Discussion Post 1

"Isn't that why some of us resonate so deeply with Mason? She can see the beauty?"  Pg xiv (preface).

My answer is a wonderful YES!   Laurie Bestvater begins the preface with a Wendell Berry  quote, in itself profound of meaning about his observation of seminary students and missing essence of God. She continues her analysis of the great question and includes this insight:

"Mason had shown me that notebooks can be forms of vitality, literally the shape and outline, the liturgy of the attentive life.  They nurture the science of relations and the art of mindfulness. They teach us to see the very brief beauty of now, to know the landscape of here, to be present in all our pleasures and pains.  Through them we, haltingly, dwell in a world of ideas and connections with an ever-higher opinion of God and his works and as truer students of Divinity." Pg xiv

I found the whole preface an appropriate greeting to the gateway.   I have always believed that you can't separate Mason from faith.   I can't speak for others but in our life living our faith and staying true to our beliefs are very important in home education.  When you see me express myself as living our education I am including to mean everything important in our lives and ultimately, hopefully, all required to make our children good stewards of God and all his creation.  So, YES,  there was always a natural calling from Mason for various reasons, but, her ability to "see the beauty," certainly one of the most important.

captured on our DC trip last year

Thus, the book sets us on a path to help us find the "aha's" for these wonderful notebooks many of us have had our children (and ourselves) use as part of a Charlotte Mason education.  Chapter 1: The Art of the Keeper gives us a list of extraordinary people in history whom kept these personal notebooks. The atmosphere is set....I'm convinced, there is a place in history for and from these  "Keepers" and in part could be owed to their "Art" the notebook.

Panel at last year's CM Institute Conference

I have to admit what grabbed me most about this chapter and, I, absolutely appreciated, was the idea that Mason, while a revolutionary in child centered education, did not re-invent the wheel. She didn't have to. Just as we don't either.  There is something freeing of the spirit to know there are others whom have gone before us with similar needs and interests.  Who have been successful or missed a few things.  Either way, we can learn and take what works in our lives.

"So, as Mason says of herself overall, she was not an innovator in this regard either.  The Keepers who were scholars, the movers and shakers in science, the arts, and exploration on whom she called regularly in her classroom she knew enough to imitate.  To that extent, Mason comes to the art of keeping notebooks naturally, not in a vacuum but within the rich context of the Western notion of Liberal Arts which fairly demands some of these academic disciplines." Pg 10

Most of us have come to appreciate Mason because her methods, her philosophy have felt natural in our lives.  I, for one, am grateful she took this notion of keeping notebooks and extended to include the child, the person, as Bestvater reminds us is at the center of a CM education.  Here, I give you my second favorite point in this chapter:

"Her method has arrived like a time capsule filled with ideas we seem to be in danger of losing track of in this fill-in-the-blank, megabyte world....Innovator or no, perhaps we simply have need of a studied, intelligent, common sense voice from the past asking us to hold up for a minute and examine the force of the culture shapers she insisted on as a curriculum for every child and the particular paper ways they had of pursuing their loves." Pg 11

Looking forward to Chapter 2: Gallery of Forms, a look at the Mason student and their notebooks.

Link to Wildflowers and Marbles

Joining A Book Discussion

I enjoy living our education! Just like my children, I've always tried to have reading material that will not only challenge and educate me, but encourage our home schooling journey.  I'm sure you can imagine the majority of my selections have been Charlotte Mason related.  I was so excited to see Laurie Bestvater write and publish The Living Page.   A book about "Keeping Notebooks with Charlotte Mason".

 

 

I'm equally as excited to join a book discussion among friends.  I'll be linking through Jen's blog at Wildflowers and Marbles for a few of my posts.  I hope you'll read along with us or if you've already had the pleasure, please still share your thoughts.  The first posts/discussion will go up starting this Thursday.

 

Link to Wildflowers and Marbles

 

Post Links:

Preface and Chapter 1: The Art of the Keeper

Chapter 2: Gallery of Forms (part 1)



Winter Tea and Poetry Recitation

A group of seven families (including ourselves) decided that we truly enjoyed our monthly California history group a la CM last year, that we formed a weekly CM co-op this year: The Large Room.  One of the things we planned for the year were three seasonal teas' with an opportunity for the kids to recite a memorized poem.  Our Fall tea was wonderful and our second tea, Winter, was hosted at our house this past week.  My children had a wonderful time planning and hosting.  My oldest and youngest students picked their poems a few weeks ago and had been memorizing/practicing for the big day.

We had nine kids recite this season! They did wonderfully...my daughter chose a Christina Rosetti poem and my son's selection:

January is Here

 

by Edward Fawcett

 

January is here,

with eyes that keenly glow,

A frost-mailed warrior

 striding a shadowy steed of snow.

 

Certainly not what our January was like, but, definitely his vision of what "Winter" must be...somewhere ; )



Books & Things and Some Mother Culture

Someone teased me the other day and commented that my weekends were always full of birthdays and events.  This weekend was no exception.  We had a Baptism celebration Saturday evening and another wonderful birthday get to together on Sunday.  What can I say?  I'm very blessed with close family and very treasured friends. 

I was also very fortunate to be part of a great gathering earlier in the day on Saturday.  I was very excited to share part of the day with nine other moms watching the Simply Charlotte Mason Books & Things DVD Seminar.  We all successfully watched the first two discs before breaking for lunch.  The ladies were very excited about what they were hearing and learning.  I keep realizing that part of the wisdom behind Charlotte Mason's philosophy, as many moms reinforced, was that it just makes sense. We also realize that very inadvertently many of us already use some of her methods and yearn to include others.  We just didn't know that this wonderful lady took the time to write it all down with such care.  If you have a genuine interest in how your children learn and you want to provide the best learning environment for them using the best literature and experiences; then yes she certainly uses common sense. 

It doesn't surprise me that once you are teased just a little by one her methods you long to do more.  I envy those moms who are just starting their home school journeys and can absorb themselves with this philosophy.  They won't have a learning curve or paradigm to shift. From the beginning their children will be on their way to a wonderful education.  I have had to gently change the way I approached my childrens' education because I was just unsure in the beginning.  I am blessed to have discovered that I can teach them all in this fashion and they are still relatively young.  We have many years to learn this way.

Listening and sharing with the moms this weekend I don't feel that I wasted those beginning years at all.   Many of the moms mentioned that we already do some very important Charlotte Mason things in our home schooling, without knowing we did.  If anything the more I read about her, the more I learn how to improve what has been almost instinctual in educating my children.  Learning more about Charlotte Mason allows me to put all those wonderful ways of educating into a logical thinking process so that I can guide my children through this journey.  When our children are regarded as more than just little people needing to fulfill a requirement for that end of the road piece of paper that acknowledges they are valuable; then we can start looking at them as persons growing in the splendor of God's world waiting to discover all that is great and good.  I don't know what the future holds for them, but I do know that I feel better equipped at ensuring that I will raise good Godly men and women ready to conquer challenges put before them.

I'm sure that each of the ladies that got together on Saturday will have a different journey than the next, but we all do share something in common.  We are all genuinely concerned about how we educate our children.  Naturally, we all strive to it in the best way suitable for our homes.  I'm just glad we've all had a little taste of who Charlotte Mason was and what her philosophy is all about.  We, of course, would like more than just a taste so we are excited to start this support group.   I look forward to seeing where it will take us!