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.