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!