Discovering: the softest nest we've ever seen (thistle down, and orange yarn we put in our suet cage this spring!! also grass and possibly horse hair) Pretty sure it belongs to a goldfinch! Listening: to a favorite! Dvořák from the past school year Watching: an 'accidentally' too-soon-picked sunflower unfold in a cup of water Observing: leg and toe-developing-tadpoles Looking: (once more) at fishermen (from here) Harvesting: nature's bountiful "crop" (in his words) Helping: do cow chores at a friend's house Comparing: blades of grass from the yard on our nature table
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It is my pleasure to host this edition of the CM Blog Carnival Welcome! Grab a cool drink, pull up a chair and enjoy some refreshment and inspiration. I wanted to share with you few quotations that I've been pondering after reading an intriguing Parent's Review article titled Adventures in Education by Sybil Marshall. It gave such a wonderful glimpse into a school of the past where Mason's ideas were being implemented. These are the ideas that stuck out to me from my reading. "...their minds were reaping the real benefit. fed with countless real experiences, the children's imaginations began to work as never before. The creative impulse that is born with every child atrophies unless his imaginative response to his environment keeps it actively in use. When in use it demands outlets in many different forms, but above all in words." Nancy over at Sage Parnassus shares with us some great insights for enhancing the reading experience in a simple and natural way- A New Way to Listen: Commonplacing for Little People "...thoughts need the freedom of time to become seasoned, to become personal, to become knowledge." Leah at Homegrown Babies shares with us, and I'm a tad jealous, because I want to go!! A Charlotte Mason 'pilgrimage' "The teacher's greatest asset is the children's desire to learn, but as this is a natural thing it must be used in a natural way." Lindafay shares with us some good beginner tips at Higher Up and Further In- The First Stage of Nature Journaling "Fed on stories of all kinds, the children's horizons get wider and wider, calling for still more detailed observation of nature, of animals, of people... the need for factual knowledge leads them back again to books, and the spiral continues upward and onward." Amy shares some yucky bugs and good ideas at Fisher Academy- Nature Study Monday:Insect Pests Barb shares a wealth of things to try at your house for a simple study on trees at Handbook of Nature Study- For the Love of Trees: A Year-Long Tree Study I'm looking forward to giving some a these a try! Lanaya at Delightful Education shares with us her thoughts on-
(Habit) Training in Truthfulness Oh, and one by Yours Truly :) on Thinking Practice Thanks so much for joining me here. I hope you have enjoyed reading all these as much as I have! And, a special thanks to Amy for heading up the carnival for us all. Upcoming carnival: @ Epikardia on 7/24 Topic for discussion (optional): Principles #9-10 For more info see: The 20 Principles. {an overview} Submit posts here: charlottemasonblogs (at) gmail (dot) com To find out more about upcoming & past CM blog carnival schedule, Click Here! One of my favorite times of the day is just before supper when my son and I head out to gather whatever's in the garden to put on the dinner table. I think it stirs a sense of adventure because you never know for sure what is waiting out there. It's exciting to discover a new bloom on the cucumber vine or a whole bunch of sugar snap peas that grew seemingly overnight are ready to pop in your mouth. This year we hit the 50% off table at the local pharmacy and picked out a box of bright marigolds and a few other flowers that struck our fancy. We popped them into the vegetable boxes to fill in some empty spaces and add a little pleasing-to-the-eye-color. I let him carry the box into the store as I paid and then carry them out and set them in back with the grocery bags. He was proud to be so strong and such a good helper to Mama, and he only almost dropped them once! I had the words to Eve Bunting's book Flower Garden running through my mind. "Garden in a shopping cart. Doesn't it look great! Garden on the check-out stand. I can hardly wait..." I'm not sure it's a living book, but holds sweet memories because we read it together over and over when he was real little. Another reason the just-before-supper-time is a favorite of mine is because it often fosters easy conversation that can become a catalyst for some good habit training (as long as I'm on the look-out for it!). "Mom, when are we going to get purple beans?" "When do you think?" "In 80 a hundred weeks!?" "Well... What do they need before they can get beans on them?" "Roots!" "Do they have them?" "Yes! I can kind of see them at the bottom." "What else do they need?" "Flowers!" "Are there any?" "I see some little pinkish buds..." "So, when are we going to get some beans?" "Oh, pretty soon." To many adults this is just a trivial childish conversation, but to a mother aspiring to "thinking love" toward her children, it looks like the beginnings of a habit being formed in a young life, a habit of thought. "...thinking, like writing or skating, comes by practice. The child who never has thought, never does think, and probably never will think; for are there not people enough who go through the world without any deliberate exercise of their own wits?" -CM Usually a conversation goes more like this: "The child asks 'Why?' and the parent answers, rather proud of this evidence of thought in his child." -CM But it should go: "Let the parent ask 'Why?' and the child produce the answer, if he can. After he has turned the matter over and over in his mind, there is no harm in telling him––and he will remember it––the reason why." because he did the work of thinking for himself! "Every walk should offer some knotty problem for the children to think out–– "Why does that leaf float on the water, and this pebble sink?" and so on." -CM A little later on, though talking about the habit of obedience and not the habit ot thinking, Mason says that the mother must teach "gradually," "gently," "consistently," from infant on," and "with some self-restraint on the mother's part." I think these words apply toward other habits as well, not just obedience. And I appreciate that she points out these things and admits that it takes self-restraint on the part of the adult to build good habits into our children.
Mothering well is not an easy-breezy way of life. But the sweet rewards of the work are immense, just like that tray of yummy-ness(!) on the supper table. "It is infinitely well worth the mother's while to take some pains every day to secure, in the first place, that her children spend hours daily amongst rural and natural objects; and , in the second place, to infuse into them, or rather, to cherish in them, the love of investigation." -CM Book of Firsts- open and ready
Tray of nature finds and magnifying glass Flower press, flower book and supplies Field guides and binoculars His tiny jar of fresh-picked daisies A home was needed for our summer nature things, so we came up with this nature table tucked along one wall near the patio door. I read somwehere once that contentment can be found when you 'shop your home' instead of heading out to purchase that certain piece of furniture or whatever IT is you suddenly decide you need to make your home just right. This happens to be some tv trays that were being stored in the basement. Paired with a pretty patterned oilcloth from the linen cupboard, it makes a nice little spot for investigation to take place. I've always loved the idea of a nature table and still have bigger dreams for 'someday.' (You know how that goes...) "...give the child delightful glimpses into the world of wonders he lives in, to reveal the sorts of things to be seen by curious eyes, and fill him with desire to make discoveries for himself." -CM It was pretty amazing to watch! And it happened right in front of our wide eyes.
A great grizzly, stretched and yawned, waking up from his nap on a warm afternoon. He splashed into the pool where Salmon fish darted and zipped through the water. This bear decided to do a little fishing! After several failed atempts, we could almost feel his pangs of hunger. But with patient persistence and a cunning nature, as tension mounted in the crowd and we all held our breath, he guided his skitterish little fishy meal into a corner with precision using those giant paws. Slowly and carefully, the bear had this fish just where he wanted it. Then in one swift lunge and with a great splash, he caught the airborne fish between his claws and proceeded with bear-sized gulps to thoroughly enjoy his meal, seemingly oblivious to the astonished little boy directly behind the glass standing amid clapping and cheers of the spectators. Surely a wonder, indeed! Happy early b-day, my BEAR-ly 5 yo sweetheart! Mama loves you! "Leigh Hunt on Flowers ...this mysterious bud gradually unfolding like the leaf, amazing us, enchanting us, almost alarming us with delight, as if we knew not what enchantment were to ensue, till at length, in all its fairy beauty, and odorous voluptuousness, and the mysterious elaboration of tender and living sculpture, shines forth the blushing flower." "...To make collections of wild flowers for the several months, press them, and mount them neatly... affords much happy occupation and, at the same time, much useful training..." - CM Vol. 1 The violet was our first entry this spring into our collection book of wildflowers. This happy occupation is also recommended on Mason's List of Attainments, and I can see why! My son is overjoyed each time he gets to add a new finding to his book, each one a friend he is not likely to forget. "And, having made the acquaintance of a wild flower, so that they can never forget it or mistake it, they should examine the spot where they find it, so that they will know for the future in what sort of ground to look for such and such a flower. 'We should find wild thyme here!' 'Oh, this is the very spot for marsh marigolds; we must come here in the spring.'"- CM "If the mother is no great botanist, she will find Miss Ann Pratt's Wild Flowers [see Appendix A] very useful, with its coloured plates, like enough to identify the flowers, by common English names, and pleasant facts and fancies that the children delight in."
Ann Pratt says, "The sweet blue and white violets are among the first favourites of our childhood. We find them in March; hence our old writers called them the March Violet; but they are still more abundant in April than in the earlier month. They grow on way-sides, and many a copsewood in England might remind us of the poet’s description:- “There the purple violets lurk, With all the lovely children of the shade." We use a hard cover notebook with thick paper to mount them in as well as a field guide that is specific to our state and has large colored photographs. I often try to find some interesting tidbit about the flower or how it got it's name to make it come even more alive to my son. Anna Botsford Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study has a wonderful little lesson on violets that, after reading it, makes me want to head back out and take a closer look! Oh, and here's a little wildflower story for you- We live in the country, so it's ok to not mow your lawn if you don't get to it right away in spring. That's what happened to us the spring we built the house. We were busy so the front yard ended up looking less like a golf course and more like a hay field. But there was a bonus- I learned where all the patches of wildflowers grow in the yard. The Ox-eye Daisies are by the dead apple tree, the Oriental Poppies are along the grove, the milkweed is on the side by the row of evergreens, and the mullien is right out the front yard. As it just so happens now, I'm known to mow around the patches of wildflowers that happen here and there. The yard might look a little different, but my son has flowers right out his front door and I don't even have to water them! Ahhhhh... when I awoke this morning I let out a deep sigh- A FULL NIGHT'S SLEEP! That hasn't happened in a long while. {thank you, baby!} :) And while we were resting soundly upstairs, something exciting was going on downstairs, unbeknownst to any of us. A tiny miracle was taking place... ... this little one emerged from a 20 day sleep. Talk about well-rested! From: March 17: the Saint Patrick's Day finding of Fuzzy, the Wooly Bear Caterpillar To: May 25: the mid-night emergence of Fuzzy, the Isabella Tiger Moth Let's just say there was an excited little boy at the breakfast table! A little naptime sewing in honor of new fabric and new tastes. Another tiny discovery- in Grandpa's bushes. A handful of wildflowers he picked for me found their way to my kitchen window sill. "Two small arms to hold you tight,
Two small feet to run, Two small eyes full of love for you, One small son." -Unknown Psalm 107:1 "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good..." On Friday morning we had our last Truth, Beauty, Goodness Co-op/Community meeting. I always hate to see it end for summer. During our poetry time, my 4 yo (who is not usually at TBG with me, as he is still a little too young) listened to each child recite the poem Fog by Carl Sandburg (this term's poet) in preparation for our upcoming Family Night. He and I had read it one foggy morning at home prior to this meeting. Then on Saturday our family worked out in the garden, weeding and planting. It was a gorgeous day. At one point, my son was playing quietly in the dirt a little ways away from me, and I heard him saying something under his breath. I stopped working and listened a little closer. He was reciting Fog word for word. It made me smile. I caught my husband's eye and he looked and smiled knowingly. Then the poem changed to this: "Cars, by Carl Sandburg. Cars sit on little roads. They drive on silent wheels over town and city and then move on." Maybe I'll bring him with me for poetry at TBG more often :) We made some herb garden markers out of old spoons and a set of alphabet stamps following this tutorial. None of my past attempts at garden marker/labels have held up. I'm hoping these will. Next time we'll use a larger hammer to flatten them so the letters are more visible. I later added black paint to help the letters stand out a little better. Another exciting thing this weekend- we went to check in on the eggs and saw this instead! And this little one had fun stroking pine needles- a new texture for him
(and, well, trying to eat them too... without success.) And here's one other little thing I enjoyed this weekend and wanted to share. "In the spending of pocket-money is another opportunity for initiative on the children's part and for self-restraint on that of the parents. No doubt the father who doles out the weekly pocket-money and has never given his children any large thoughts about money––as to how the smallest income is divisible into the share that we give, and the share that we keep, and the share that we save for some object worth possessing... how it is worth while to think twice before making a purchase... By degrees pocket-money should include the cost of gloves, handkerchiefs, etc., until, finally, the girl who is well on in her teens should be fit to be trusted with her own allowance for dress and personal expenses. The parents who do not trust their young people in this matter, after having trained them, are hardly qualifying them to take their place in a world in which the wise, just, and generous spending of money is a great test of character." -CM We've been having a little discussion (over here) about teaching kids about money. My oldest is turning 5 soon and we've been seeing that he's ready to begin learning about earning, spending, saving and giving. My husband and I have gone through Financial Peace University and liked Dave's FPU Jr., but I had in mind some visuals that were a little more personal and creative for our son to use. Sorry, Dave! Our jars are made out of peanut butter containers. I wanted plastic so they were less likely to break, and clear so he'd be able to watch his money grow. I used these free printable labels and tweaked them with some scrapbook supplies. The paper airplane is really cute, but more appropriate for the spend jar, I thought. Sometimes money seems to sail away effortlessly, doesn't it? :) Here's the printable chore chart . I made the velcro smiley faces with clip art and laminated everything so it's reusable. Stickers would work too. "One reason why she should have the spending of her own allowance is, that she may learn early the delight and the cost of giving, and may grow up in the habit of appropriating a fixed part of her little income to the help of the needy." -CM
Read more here:Rosamund and the Purple Jar "It is a much disputed matter how we shall begin to teach history." "children should begin with their own times and read history backwards. We want to give reality to history by showing that it is not something remote, to be found in books only; we want to show that the life of each child forms part of history; then we may lead him on to see that the whole world is different for each man that has lived, better for each noble life, and to feel quite early that God has sent him into the world with some work ready for him, and that his business is to do that work." "To a little child ... we must proceed from the known to the unknown..." "I venture to think that a child who begins history thus--not at the Creation, nor even at the Christian era, but at his own "nativity"---will get to understand it better than if he tried to survey the world from any other "pin-point" in time." Enter: The Century Chart- a record of a child's life history "The first square stands for the time before he is a year old...the second square for the time when he is one year old, and so we mark the squares accordingly. The first line gives the first decade of life, in the second line we have all the tens, in the third all the twenties... A child very quickly learns to read on a black chart the number corresponding to any square in the century of squares; " "Later, ...historical events, are added" The quotes above are from this article I read recently about introducing history to a child. It mentions this idea of a Century Chart; there are examples and also a beautiful little story at the very end. This is one for my oldest son. Each square has a photo of the big event in his life that happened that year. It was easiest for me to print tiny pictures of each event to put in the square. The first photo is the night he was born. (The photos are a little different from the article's examples where stamps/drawings were used.) This is made from 12x12 cardstock. Using a ruler, I drew a one inch grid first in pencil, then with a fine-tipped black marker. I cut off the excess paper on 2 sides. The grid sheet is attached to some nice scrapbook paper with gold corners. My son's name (covered up) and the year 2007-2107 (a century) are in the title line. I might move the graph off-center to make a space on one side for writing other dates of special events. For now, ours is in a scrapbook page protector, but I'm looking for a frame with a removable back so we can admire and add to it yearly. "How valuable some such tabulated knowledge is as a basis of historical teaching... ... it forms a framework, which from the first saves events from getting shaken into disorder in the memory..." (Oh, I can relate to that!) I'm looking forward to adding a new photo for the year that has passed at his next birthday. I want to say a little prayer for his upcoming year, when we do. I also hope it causes us to reflect on the passage of time that the chart represents and the changing and growing that have been done. |
Welcome!
"I am recording this so that future generations will also praise the Lord for all He has done." -Psalm 102:18 I am a mama to 2 sweet brothers who aspires to a "thinking love" toward my children.
Take a peek into our journey towards a living education inspired by the writings of Charlotte Mason. Be sure to leave me a comment if you're inspired! I prefer to keep my text and images right here. Please don't copy without permission. Thanks! Categories
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August 2018
I Participate"In this field small efforts are honoured with great rewards, and we perceive that
the education we are giving exceeds all that we intended or imagined.”
- Mason “It may be that the souls of all children are waiting for the call of knowledge to awaken them to delightful living.”
- Mason |