The end of summer break is upon us.  Very soon we will be back to the daily go, go, go that encompasses our school day.  Morning lessons will be a treat and the structure that we all need for our day, afternoon occupations will be a feast of ideals that we would not be exposed to if not for Charlotte Mason, and evening readings will be the thing that we need to work on and create better habits of doing.  See, my family is not unlike most families these days.  We all spend entirely too much time on social media, youtube, and just our phones in general.  Mom needs to set the pace and put forth more of an effort in making sure that I am the example.  Spending more time off of my phone & more time in books and making time for things that are truly life-giving to me.  Not many people know this, but I absolutely love to quilt and to cross-stitch.  I have not finished a quilt in ages.  I have not made a cross-stitch project since Christmas.  These are the handicrafts that help me to decompress and destress.  I need time for them, and if I am going to make that time then my mindless scrolling of social media needs to take a back burner.  I want to make memories with my kids and with my husband. I want to make useful things. I want to live...

So, the end of summer break is upon us.  With the end of Summer is coming the beginning of Autumn.  I have a feeling and a prayer that this Autumn is full of changes and will be a breath of air for those of us in the Commonplace household... 

Dessert Club


Great Commission Academy
2018-2019




Children are born persons…


This is something that those of us who follow the Charlotte Mason style of education are very aware of, and believe to our core.  As born persons, children are capable of learning a whole host of things that are set before them.  They do not need to have things dumbed down for them.  It is a violation of their personhood and the glory in which God, himself, created them to underestimate their intelligence.


Charlotte Mason…


Charlotte Maria Shaw Mason (1842-1923) Was an educator in Britain at the turn of the century.  She believed that “the child’s mind is no mere sac to hold ideas; but is rather, if the figure may be allowed, a spiritual organism, with an appetite for all knowledge.  This is its proper diet, with which it is prepared to deal; and which it can digest and assimilate as the body does foodstuffs.” (A Philosophy of Education, volume 6, principal 9, page xxx).  In essence, Miss Mason believed in educating the WHOLE child, not just the mind of the child.  She referred to education as a feast.  The feast of education contains many parts—just as a feast of food contains many parts.  One cannot thrive on a diet that is not varied, consisting of more than one or two simple foodstuffs, but one can certainly thrive on a diet that is rich in all of the different food groups available.  A person may be able to survive, and a persons education may be sufficient to most levels, with just a selection from the top, but they are unlikely to have a richness, a love, a passion, for learning as someone who has been exposed to the full feast of ideals available.


The Dessert Club…


Enter the Dessert club.  Just as with a feast, the dessert is delectable, decadent, rich, and full of wonderful flavor, the dessert club strives to include those things that are missing from our normal school mornings.  Hikes through nature while observing the local flora and fauna, reading the glorious plays by William Shakespeare together, learning how to accomplish beautiful Brush Drawing, making useful objects with your hands….the dessert of education is endless.  The Dessert Club will strive to meet 2 times a week to allow children the opportunity to meet together and to learn all of the things they might not even know that they are missing out on.  Lessons will be short, they will abide by all of Miss Mason’s Principals, and they will be rich in delight.  There will be a slight cost associated with joining as to ensure that we will be able to purchase the materials needed for each lesson.  We will also attempt a monthly excursion on a weekend.  


If this sounds like something that you are interested in, please respond and let me know.  We will get started the first week of September 2018 and run through June of 2019. This will consist of (3) terms lasting approximately 10-12 weeks each, taking breaks for major holidays. Once you join, you will receive a detailed course outline for the term no later than August 27, 2018.  Dessert club will meet from 3:00pm-4:00pm on Monday and Friday each week.  We will discuss together the best weekend each month for an excursion.


Cost: $15 a month per family

**The agreement is so that I have permission to send you the syllabus for each term as well as to send you a PayPal agreement for the $15 per month, or you can choose to pay in person.

I was very blessed to be able to spend 3 days in Hattiesburg, Mississippi with an amazing group of women who are all dedicated to learning more about Charlotte Mason and studying her words.  The retreat was absolutely a blessing in so many ways.  I don't think that I realized just how much I needed to be reminded of the love of our Creator until I went to this retreat.  I learned a ton from amazing speakers such as Emily Kiser, Liz Cottrill, Nicole Williams, Art Middlekauff, and Richele Baburina.

Here are a few narrations from my lessons and plenary sessions.  I will not be sharing all of my notes as to protect the copyright of their respected speakers.

"God, himself, is the supreme educator of mankind?

All subjects are inspired by God himself.  All learning, whether secular or spiritual comes from God himself through the Holy Spirit.  He has bestowed knowledge to all individuals and a love of learning to all.  God is a relational God; he yearns for a relationship with his creation.  He doth instruct us and doth teach us.  As Miss Mason states in VOL 2 p 274 "Our cooperation appears to be indispensable condition of all the divine workings." Every idea is a direct representation of the Holy Spirit [paraphrase] (Vol2 p 270-271).

To prove this point, look to Exodus.  The very first person to be filled with the Holy Spirit was the artist who was commissioned to build the lampstands, ark of the convent, etc... this just proves that there are no secular subjects.  ALL knowledge comes from God.  We are not the showmen of the universe, HE is.  He deserves all Glory and all recognition.

God gave mothers an amazing commission.  We are to teach and instruct our children in his love and in his wisdom.

Unfortunately, there is not much that I can share in regards to this breakout session.  For more information on scheduling your day (morning & evening) PLEASE go to the Sabbath Mood Homeschool website and let Nicole help you.  Her scheduling resources are amazing.

Why do children need to learn? 
" [1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  [2] He was with God in the beginning. [3] Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. [4] In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:1-5) All truth comes from God himself.  Children need to learn so that they may know God and grow closer to him. "Literature is a fertile seedbed of ideas.  What we read becomes who we are." Liz Cottrill. Our children must read in order to know. They must read in order to have faith in what is unseen.  They must learn so that they can trust God and follow him throughout their lives.

What should a child learn?
Children should learn the best that we can provide them.  Give them rich literature that is full of living ideas so that they may see the splendor of God himself. They need to learn to read for pleasure so that they may build the habit of reading for pleasure as they grow older.

How do we teach?
We teach by showing constant use until it is familiar.  We must trust the innate curiosity and ability of the child.  We must be purposeful and consecutive.  We need to cultivate an enthusiasm in each child for lifelong learning.

"...we must read to know the meaning to life..." [School Education, p 262-263] Charlotte Mason.   

The following is my narration of our afternoon nature study and nature walk with Nicole Williams.  Our assigned special study topic was moss.

For more information on the afternoon nature study notebook please see the ADE podcast entitled NOTEBOOKS & PAPERWORK PART 1. [EPISODE 111]

​RESOURCES TO USE FOR NATURE STUDY:
*The Handbook of Nature Study by Comstock
*John Muir Laws
*A Nature Study Guide by W.S. Furneaux
*Nature Study Guides by Sabbath Mood Homeschool

My Narration:
Friday, March 2, 2018

We went on a nature walk around the Parkway Heights Church.  On our walk we noticed at least 4 different types of mosses.  Some of the mosses were short and carpet like.  Other mosses were fern like.  One had tall, red stems that were the color of radish stems.  I learned that the stems are called setum.  We also saw live oak trees and the flowers were long and curly.  There looked to be an oak gall forming on one of the branches.  Azalea was in bloom and so was Bradford Pear.  I saw two different types of lyken and one was flat while the other looked like a little pom-pom.  The weather was warm and sunny though I did not have access to a thermometer to get the actual temperature. 

**I will be adding drawings of the Liken to my nature study notebook...

In the painting "The Striking Sunset" by Claude Monet you can see a red sun slowly sinking into the horizon on a rocky seaside in Normandy.  By using math, we are able to know that Claude Monet was in Normandy, painting that picture on February 5, 1883 at 4:55 pm.

Math is filled with BEAUTY & TRUTH.  It should teach us to wonder.  Math should be a perfect joy because "insights in mathematics come ultimately from God." (John Nickle).

The Bible is full of the evidence that God created math & that math shows and sustains his Glory. "[6]yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live." [1 Corinthians 8:6]
"[25] This is what the LORD says: 'If I have not made my covenant with day and night and established the laws of heaven and earth, [26] then I will reject the descendants of Jacob and David my servant will not choose of of his sons to rule over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.  For I will restore their fortunes and have compassion on them." [Jeremiah 33: 25-26]
"[8] But it is the spirit in a person, the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.  [9] It is not only the old who are wise, not only the aged who understand what is right." [Job 32:8-9]

...there are many more examples, but it is clear that God has created all that is true and right.  He has created all laws.  "Math is principles that God created and he sustains." {R. Baburina].  As such, as child should be allowed to think and should not be allowed to think that he is behind.  We meet each child where they are at and continue to move forward while showing the glory and love of God himself in the process.

Parents determine the atmosphere in our home.  Let God be the director of us so that he is the director of our atmosphere.

If you want to learn the method then you must evolve your brain.  Living ideas only become beneficial when you form them as habit.

You learn the method by focusing on one set of habits at a time.  You go broad then you go deep!
Have a partner in habit formation.  If you need your children to love learning then be the model for them.  Education is not something to do TO someone, it is something to do WITH someone. [Vol 5, 335].

​Listen to podcast #65 on A Delectable Education!

Geometry was once a week on Friday for 30 minutes starting in Form II.  Geometry is the art of measuring.   It comes from the root words Geo: The earth & Metron: To measure. The Egyptians were the first to measure area.  They used it for measuring boundaries starting at around 2900 BC. The book, "The Boy of the Nile" has some good historical information.

Students started with practical geometry in Form II and moved on to Proof Based Geometry in Form III.

In Volume 6 CM explains that she starts with the WAY OF THE WILL therefore Logic begins in High School. [Towards A Philosophy of Education, Chapter 9]

I will not include all of my notes to protect Richele's copyright for this immersion.  I will say, please take one of her classes if given the opportunity.  She has such a way with words and really knows how to show the glory of God through Mathematics. 

For this immersion we read "Coriolanus."  

Liz explained that it is helpful to read the play that you are studying in Plutarch.  It will help both subjects to come alive.

Make a list of characters and write down who is playing who.

Coriolanus was the last tragedy that Shakespeare ever wrote.

WE ARE NOT OUR OWN...

"Both parents and children are unique souls created in the image of God." [Liz Cottrill]

Liz explains authority.  It exists whether we like it or not.  We are always living under authority, whether it be the authority of our parents, government, or God.  We are always under authority.  Anarchy would mean chaos.  Liz states that there is no tyrant worse than self.

No parent can escape the authority to rule.  It was given to us by God himself when he entrusted us with children. Being a parent is a HOLY calling and we are standing on holy ground.

[Psalm 23] speaks of God our FATHER.  He is a good father to us.  He loves us and cares for us. He doesn't do it because we deserve it, but because he loves us.

Our children are not our own.  They belong to God.  They look to us automatically to see what God expects of them. [Principle 4] states that the personality of the child shall not be encroached upon.  Children are little more than lost lambs who do not understand when they do wrong.  Therefore we must obey the command that Jesus gave to Peter when he said, "FEED MY LAMBS."

We must not sin against our children.  If we insight anger, will we teach them to seek God? 

Love is a powerful idea.  It grows not by what it gets, but by what it gives. 

​ 

Children must learn that they are not their own either.  Charlotte Mason says, "What can parents do? Just this, present the idea of God to the child."

For while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!

Art Middlekauff writes at www.charlottemasonpoetry.com

Nicole Williams writes at www.sabbathmoodhomeschool.com

Emily Kiser & Liz Cottrill are part of A Delectable Education, along with Nicole Williams, and they can be found at www.adelectableeducation.com

Richele Baburina has math resources available through the curriculum page at www.simplycharlottemason.com
​
The retreat was hosted by Bridgett Cooley who writes at www.charlottemasonsoiree.com

It has been absolutely amazing to watch how this method is changing our lives. Charlotte Mason has made her way to the depths of my very soul and it is completely impacting how I interact with my children and with others.

I am new to home Education. I began homeschooling my oldest son last year for 4th grade and we continued this year. I discovered Miss Mason very early in my journey and slowly began adding in bits of the feast for my son. Her method of education is so thorough and beautiful. We are experiencing things that I never knew existed. Plutarch? Who is he? The beautiful tales of William Shakespeare, the beauty in Gods Holy Word, the lives of the famous men and women who have shaped our country and our world throughout the ages....I could go on.

This year, I have embraced a “whole hog” approach with our CM Education. I am striving to do things just as Charlotte did them & teach the subjects that she taught. It has been challenging. It has meant a lot of time away from our screens—both my son and I love social media. I love facebook and he loves YouTube.—And it has meant more time out of doors. Time out of doors has not been easy for us. It hasn’t been easy because I am not naturally one to just want to go and hike in nature. Give me a purpose to be outside and I can do it, but send me outside just to sit and ponder and it isn’t easy for me.

I have made it a point to spend more time outside with my kids. Yesterday, we went on a short hike together up the hill behind our house. We took our watercolor sets and a journal and found a nice spot to sit and paint. Today, it was 70-degrees. The temperature has been well below freezing for over a month, so we took full advantage of the beautiful weather. Now, THIS is where the beauty comes in. As we were sitting on a wood trailer doing morning lessons, my 3-year-old comes up and asks if we are going to paint again. I walked back inside, got the watercolor set and some paper. He said, “I’m going to study this tree and paint a picture of it.” Be still my heart! My 3-year-old wanted to Nature Study. He is learning to find the beauty in the world that God created and to just be still and observe. That moment will forever be precious to me.

Once again, Miss Mason is changing our lives.

I have several things that I like to sit and think about doing. I have made some beautiful quilts, done photography, etc. nothing that I have tried have stuck with me. I decided to try cross-stitch. This is the progress I’ve made on my first piece. I am loving it so far. It is very relaxing. Hopefully, I will be an encouragement to my boys to try something new.

This will be a Christmas present for an amazing lady in my life.

Click here for a link to ADE episode #92 An interview with Bridgette Cooley


Leadership Training
Interview with Bridgett Cooley:

Bridgett starts out with her backstory and her journey to Charlotte Mason. At first she was not interested because thought it was “mamby-pamby.” She started school too early with first daughter. Found ADE through a rabbit trail and realized that what she had found before was wrong. She was encouraged and inspired to read the volumes for herself.

Bridgett had a group of friends that was a mother group. She started her local reading group in December and started “A Delectable Conversation” online in August. The goal was to read through the volumes together. The online group discussed the ADE podcast to narrate the episodes and learn and grow together. The name was changed to “Charlotte Mason Soirée.”

Liz talks about finding her local Charlotte Mason group during a season when she was planning 2 weddings at one time. It was there that Emily and Liz met Nicole. They went through the volumes together.

Bridgett went to a conference in Peoria and wanted to start the group to go through what she had brought back from the conference. They used a guide broken down weekly to go through volume 1. It was more than 30 pages monthly, but 30 pages would be better. Bridgett and Morgan are working on the study guides and a topical guide for the podcast episodes.

Liz recounts her experience of having a group and moving. Her group changed dynamic. They discuss when people don’t get through the assigned reading. Bridgett reads Charlottes own words regarding the importance of Mother Culture. We sacrifice some of our child’s education if we do not continue our own.

Morgan found in the archives suggestions to secretary branches to have reading circles. This was not just for homeschooling parents, but for working mothers and governesses as well. Educating, encouraging, and supporting parents was important to the success of the branch.

Morgan and Bridgett saw the need for reading groups, so they started a training course to help equip others in starting their groups. The groups need to be “just Charlotte Mason.” It is nothing added to and nothing taken away. There will be prerequisite and continuing education. The training isn’t long, it it is efficient. It takes preparation and training. At the end you have support and materials available.

It should take about an hour to go through the study guide lessons every month. The guides are 30 pages a month to leave time and space for a topical guide if wanted. It is a good way to learn the “why and how” to implement a CM education. Leave time for moms to ask questions or to talk about “thorny issues” and bring back to how Charlotte Mason would advise to handle the issues presented.

The leader is a facilitator. She can help to draw people back to the case and point of CM when we go off on rabbit trails. It is s purpose and s direction. The leader doesn’t have to have 20 years experience. They just have to be willing to lead others who are along on the same journey with them. The group is a oral narration. There is accountability and support in the CM soirée leaders group. The CE requirements is to read an article of the dispatch and listen to a podcast every month. It should take an hour or so every month. Info can be found on the soirée website.

Click here for a link to Charlotte Mason Soiree Dispatch #16

Dispatch #16
Knowledge of God
Saviour of the World volume 7


Linda Fern located unpublished volumes of poetry in the Charlotte Mason Archives.
Increase Our Faith (Luke 17:7-10)


This poem really made me think about what I say to my children and how I speak to them. Do I speak to them as persons or rather demand tasks of them like a Master? How does God speak to me? Does he expect me to serve him day and night only to fulfill his wishes, or does he care about me and treat me as someone of importance? I choose to believe the latter. If he did not care for me, would he have sacrificed his son so that I may live?

Knowledge of Man
Teaching Cardboard Sloyd


Miss Pennethorne gave 3 categories of benefits of Cardboard Sloyd in her 1906 article. These benefits are as follows;

Physical:

“1. It trains the eye to accuracy (accuracy being understood as absolute, not relative) in (a) drawing a straight line, (b) measuring distances and angles, (c) cutting on the line drawn.
2. It trains the hand to follow the guidance of the eye, and to obey exactly the impulse of the motor nerves transmitting the message of what the hand is required to do.
3. It strengthens the muscles of the hand by exercise. (1906, p. 3)”

Mental:

The boy who learns to cut accurately will learn to think accurately. Too often we are okay with being “nearly right” instead of striving to be right. This doesn’t have to just be the case for handicraft, but for life as well.


Moral:


“… they would certainly train their eyes to real power in seeing, and their hands to real power in doing, and … be sure at least of a sound body. But that is not all. They would be doing something too towards a sound mind… they would learn… to be orderly, accurate, attentive, industrious, thoughtful, and self-reliant—nay, I will go even further, and add truthful. Orderliness, accuracy, attention, industry, thoughtfulness, self-reliance, truthfulness—verily a list of nearly all the virtues! (Russell, 1893, p. 328)”


Something very “strange” happens when a person is taught Sloyd. They begin to gain more control of their physical body. In gaining this confidence in their physical body they begin to develop a moral framework that encompasses nearly all of the virtues.




Cardboard Sloyd Lessons


Cardboard Sloyd teaches neatness and exactness. It prepares children to learn a trade and become skilled for life. It is much more desirable for a young person to learn to build highways than to arrange flowers. Sloyd works to strengthen the body. It helps manual dexterity and promptness. Sloyd developments certainty of movement which is of great value to everyone.


Form 2


In Form 2 handicrafts move from morning lessons to afternoon lessons. During these lessons students should still be under supervision. Even though they should be skilled with a knife, the parent (teacher) should read the book themselves and be on hand as a guide to answer questions.


Students were required to complete 4 perfectly executed models per term. These lessons were still 20-30 minutes in length. They were slowly transitioning to the metric system and how to increase or decrease the size of the model. Students learned how to score thicker papers and how to bind edges with book binding tape.


Form 3 & 4


Students move to 6 perfectly executed models per term. These models increase in difficulty. The last skill mastered in cardboard Sloyd was the ability to draw a 2-d diagram from a 3-d geometric model.


Practical Tips


The cardboard was a thick card stock. It was approx 110 lb (300 g/m2). The same knife from paper Sloyd is used for cardboard Sloyd. It comes in a variety of colors.


Knowledge of the Universe
Episode 57


Math in middle and high school.....


This isn’t exactly “right,” but math is the one subject that terrifies me. I have a really hard time knowing if I am teaching math properly. I am thankful that we are in 5th grade currently and that I have a few years until we have to dive into the harder lessons. I have always been good at Math, but when you have to explain these things to a child who doesn’t have a firm foundation is scary. Implementing Sloyd has been slow this year. We have had a hard time making sure our afternoon occupations have been included in our day. This has made including Practical Geometry that much more difficult.


It is so helpful to listen to these podcasts and to know that we are sometimes in different seasons in life and we have to make changes. Sometimes we have to go with what works and make changes that help our individual families.

ADE Episode 94: Special Studies (October 6, 2017)

Click here for a link to A Delectable Education Episode 94

Learning about Special Studies in the Natural History Lesson really hit home. We have done a terrible job at implementing afternoon occupations this year. This is our 2nd year homeschooling and our first year implementing the FULL Charlotte Mason method (including the riches). We used a different Online Charlotte Mason “book list” last year and we were just getting our feet wet.

Figuring out how to add in all of the afternoon occupations and making sure the boys, and myself, spend enough time out of doors has really been hard. Our Nature Notebooks are really bare right now.

Right now our “seasonal study” has been weeds and we are currently moving over to small mammals. I am not well versed in the local flora and fauna so this has been a huge learning experience for us all. I was one who easily missed the point when it comes to nature study. I am working on my own habits just as much as I am helping my sons develop their habits. The habit of close observation is something that I am sorely lacking in.

Learning about weeds was a bust :(. It is starting to get colder and the small animals are starting to move around more. We are hoping to have a better time learning about them and their habits. All of us have very under-developed habits of observation and it has been a struggle to train ourselves to do better.