Coming Home After CMI West 2016

I was so overjoyed with the success of our first CMI Western Conference.  It was great to see old friends, make new friends and especially, to finally, meet forever old online friends! The speakers were wonderful!  I have to admit there is always much to ponder and process after this event.

American Jewish Universtiy, CA

I got home Saturday afternoon and after some unwinding I made my way to the kitchen to find a book on the island counter.  It surprised me to see it there and eventually learned that my 12 yr old daughter  had been reading it earlier in the day.  "That's nice, " I thought and continued with the afternoon. 

Sunday we got up early for mass, and when we got home, we needed to make "something" to bring over to friends that had invited us to their pool.  My 12 yr old immediately insisted that she wanted to bake some cookies using "candy covered chocolate drops in an array of beautiful rainbow colors!"  Her wanting to bake did not  surprise me as she is the official family baker around here.  What did delight me tons was when she started baking and asked if she could tell me about the book...and how wonderful it was...and how she "now knows" about Theodoric, a friar, and his work with rainbows.  Her excitement and precise telling of rainbows; her newly developed relationship with a humble monk in the middle ages was very refreshing.  It wasn't an assignment given to her; it was just a book with a story she chose to read the day before.  Now, that knowledge of rainbows and Theodoric Dietrich has become hers.

Theodoric's Rainbow by Stephen Kramer

This small encounter lead me back to our last session at CMI, given by Dr. Carroll Smith, precisely on the "Story as Narrative".  A discussion on the use of story and living books.  The ability of a story to transport you to other places.  In our children, good literary stories allow them to use their imagination. Mere facts won't give them a visual or a relationship with the idea.  Ultimately, how the power of telling leads to knowing.  I couldn't have been more delighted to come home to my family, of course, but after the conference (specifically Dr. Smith's talk) I admit there was an added sweetness to seeing Charlotte Mason's methods working in my children.

*The book by the way is Theodoric's Rainbow by Stephen Kramer

Lent 2014: Reconcile and Share

We're not doing much that is different from our past Lenten seasons around here.  I have transformed our nature study area into our Lenten season table.

Our wonderful Lent/Easter book basket is out.  What a treat to enjoy these books once a year.  As a family, I chose to read out loud the Michael Hague Easter Treasury.

Our Lent Box with the Stations of the cross is out.  This is such a wonderful activity that my kids enjoy every year.  We have our Stations of the Cross Fridays.

Every year I also hope to inspire the kids with our Lenten countdown calendar.  Every day we nail a cross to the board.  This year I chose to decorate the board with a path made of 40 stones.  Every time we nail a cross, I try to talk about our focus for the season: Reconciling and Sharing is our theme this year.  I do this by choosing a prayer or a poem or simply reminding them about specific situations/times we need to remember these values in our lives.

Here are my past Lent and Easter posts:
Lent 2012
Easter 2012
Lent 2013

Impromptu Flower Dissection

My nature loving 10yr old daughter had a great time earning her 'Flowers' pin with her Keepers of the Faith group last spring that she requested to do some more botany this year; so, mama complied.  I found a great book: Look At A Flower by Anne Ophelia Dowden.  She's gently reading through this title and has a few others by the same author waiting (if she fancies more botany).  The book is about 100 pages and Dowden is known for her Botany illustrations. 

Science can be very much driven by interest around here.  I've designated a 'Nature Study', 'Natural History' and a 'Science' day on the schedule.  Really this gives them quiet a few days during the week to indulge on topics and books that they've chosen for the year.  Many times these become intertwined.  The books are available and science notebooks handy and, well, of they go to enjoy.  Narrations are always wonderful; my nature girl is always eager to tell me what she's learned.  Connections with her Co-Op Nature Study/Science reader on insects is icing on her delight.

I've been patiently waiting for the day she'd get curious enough to want to see the parts of the flower that she has been eagerly telling me about.  I knew she was getting close to finishing the section on "Flower Parts".  This week was it.  She picked a Hibiscus flower off the ground from our back yard, brought it in, grabbed her magnifier and asked for my help in making a good cut down the middle of the flower.

Botany: flower dissection complete! 

"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

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 ; )



October Gone By

Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin Carving

Fall CSA Cooking
 

Fall Outdoor Colors

Fall Tea with our CM Group:
The Large Room





Fall Poetry Recitation

 

October Winds

by Virginia D. Randall

 

October winds are new and clean;

They sweep the land for Halloween;

They snatch the leaves from all the trees,

Then soften down to faintest breeze.

 

They chase the cobwebs from the sky,

They bare the crow's nest, way up high;

They sway the poplars in the park,

They push in storm clouds, gray and dark.

 

They bring a warning nip of frost,

Reminding birds that summer's lost;

Then gently shoo the flocks away,

Before the winter comes to stay.





Luke the Lizard; Slow and Steady

In a home with six children it should be no surprise that there is a wide spectrum of learners and learning styles.  I continue to stay true to CM methods of education for all of them.  And, honestly, like every caring parent I worry that I'm might be doing something wrong.  Especially, when one does something earlier or even later than another child.  What I'm discovering along the way is that each is learning and thriving at their own pace!  Their strengths are their own! Difficult lesson but a real one.

This week I had one of my ah ha (sigh) moments, everything is all right.  I have a particular child that has the greatest aversion to reading. He understands all the basics of reading and can read.  He just doesn't like it and is struggling with transitioning to independently reading for instruction.  All I can do with him is to continue slow and steady.  Go over the same method and get in daily practice.  There isn't anything wrong with him; that's just not a natural thing for him.  I've learned, though, that he enjoys listening to me read all the time and, oh boy, can he narrate great.  He delights in all the books and stories we read and loves to tag along with his older brother or younger brother when they are reading to me. 

My reluctant reader a year ago.

I have very fast readers and this is my first reluctant reader.  Reading for instruction has been an easy transition for all of them.  I've stuck to my gut and I haven't let their age or reading stage stop us from continuing to use the same wonderful books.  In turn, it hasn't stopped them from enjoying and absorbing all the wonder found within them.

"For the children? They must grow up upon the best.  There must never be a period in their lives when they are allowed to read or listen to twaddle or reading-made-easy.  There is never a time when they are unequal to worthy thoughts, well put; inspiring tales, well told." Charlotte Mason, Volume 2 School Education, pg263

Well, knowing these things about him, I decided that I wasn't going to push much on him...certainly not writing!  So, just like everyone else at this age, the language arts focus has been daily copy work (smaller selections for him, just a few words at a time) and oral narrations.  The idea to ask him to do more than that just wasn't even a thought.  His siblings by now have always shown an eagerness to do more; both in reading and writing.   I have tons of little story, poetry, song books all laying around that they've enjoyed working on; especially, during those let alone times.  I kept worrying that just like the reading there would be no interest in the writing either...

"If we would believe it, composition is as natural as jumping and running to children who have been allowed due use of books. They should narrate in the first place, and they will compose, later, readily enough; but they [children under ten] should not be taught 'composition'. " Charlotte Mason, Volume 1 Home Education pg247.

I should have known better and not worry so much!  Early this week, after one of our readings;  my "reluctant" boy, asked if he could get a notebook from the "notebook" drawer.  Sure, was my response.  I thought he was just going to get a sketch one for drawing/doodling like he usually does.  Minutes passed and I walked over to the counter..."I'm writing a book, is that OK?" he asked.  I'm sure my huge smile and accolades were good responses...

I've already seen about six pages to this story;   they are being done with eagerness and joy.  The reading for instruction will come, but all the other benefits of good books is already here.   I really had no idea how much our work together could produce what he is doing.  I have to keep reminding myself ... Stay true and be steady; there is no rush!

"...like a well-fed rajah..."

I had a peaceful moment today : D Last year one of my sons just loved Paddle to the Sea by H.C. Holling so when he saw that there were actually two Holling books on his list he wasn't sure he liked that.  "What if they're not as good?!"  Great question!  But he and his brother didn't hesitate to give them a try.    Today as we were doing our weekly reading of Pagoo (also by Holling) my son just started laughing out loud as I read and then he re-read, repeating:

 

"He leaned back in his rocking penthouse like a well-fed rajah riding off

 somewhere in his jeweled elephant howdah." H.C. Holling, Pagoo pg34

 

Well, this became his copy work for the day and I'd say the two books on his list will be just as good as last years ; ) Oh the gift of imagery this author gives to his books is just wonderful.  BTW, the other is Minn of the Mississippi.  (I couldn't help but cut up some yellow watermelon for a little added splash of royalty to our simple ham sandwich lunch today.)

 

We've been back to school for over two weeks now.  I always worry about the transition but I've realized that every year it gets better.  The slow and persistent work of habits and the choosing of great books pays off.  The kids enjoyed the previous years books so much that they look forward to the new ones on their lists.  The routine of notebooks, copy work, dictation and narrations is no longer a surprise. A new year just feels like an extension of the previous and I just love that!

"The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits

secures for herself smooth and easy days..." Charlotte Mason, Vol.1 Home Education pg 136

 

I hope your school year has started out with "smooth and easy days"! 



Botanical Garden and Little Keepers

Our Little Keepers group has been working on earning five pins for the year.  Among them is a Wildflowers pin, which they began in February.  We've had our monthly meetings and worked on some of the following. They created some flashcards (picture of flower on one side/name on the other) and then at our next meeting they quizzed each other for recognition.  I also read a chapter from Shanleya's Quest: Botany Adventure for Kids to study our Mustard flower a bit more.  I gave the girls a diagram as well.  I'll take a moment to say that the green book was a must buy since my nature girl wanted to learn more about Wildflowers than just what we covered in our monthly meetings.  She has really enjoyed How To Know the Wild Flowers and pulls it out after every hike we take.

 

On a different meeting the girls brought in some samples of wildflowers and then made a great effort to watercolor dry brush their flowers (I should also mention that they were encouraged to bring some poetry about wildflowers to share at every meeting):

And now we come to our last meeting of the year, in which, we decided to head to our local Botanical Garden and take a nature walk.  The girls enjoyed this!  They took a stroll through the garden; they were able to pick out some wildflowers we'd talked about, looked up a few unknown in my field guide and enjoyed other wonderful living things on the trail : D

 

Before meeting the rest of the moms and siblings for cookies and juice (and lots of playing time)  the girls gathered in a circle.  One of our youngest member recited part of a poem the girls memorized for recitation at the beginning of our school year.  It sums up our group and another wonderful year together:

 

Others

by Charles D. Meigs

 

Lord, help me live from day to day

In such a self-forgetful way,

That even when I kneel to pray,

My prayer shall be for others.

 

Others, Lord, yes others,

Let this my motto be:

Help me to live for others,

That I live like Thee.