Charlotte Mason Seminar

This past Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending a seminar learning about the method of Charlotte Mason and some tips on how to apply her method in our home. Here are a few things I took away from this wonderful day.

She was an amazing woman and I am so thankful to God for her insight!

I am, I can, I ought, I will. We are made in the image of God. We should have balanced goals that we can accomplish. We are under God's authority, our conscience should lead us in the right direction following the rules of right and wrong. And through Christ we should be compelled to do what is right, propelled forward to conquer!

No formal academics before the age of six years! No exceptions. The eyes of a child were formed to see at a distance, to grow a relationship with God and his creation. They just aren't developmentally ready for the formal lessons.

Take your time when studying art and composers. This was one I am so glad to have heard. I just wasn't sure about how to go about studying those two. But the suggestions about how to take our time and really get to know each piece was great. Two weeks at a time will be perfect.

There is much more to learn. Just like the Bible, I don't think I will ever be done learning about all Ms. Mason had to offer. I am going to begin a discussion group studying her volumes. I pray that there is at least one other woman who wants to join me in this journey.

Since I returned home, I've been planning our new school year. We are planning to begin on July 20th. We've got a trip to Canada planned that will occupy two weeks out of the school year and so it was just logical to start two weeks earlier. Also, we may be moving (who knows when - perhaps by Dec.), so starting in September would have just put us farther behind. This way we will probably finish either early or right on time at the end of May or June. Maybe.

For our first year, I am beginning Benjamin in Year 1 of AO. He will technically be in 2nd grade, but I didn't want him to miss any of the readings and I don't think that he will be too far behind starting at this point. For Flopsy, we will begin Year 0 with reading, but no formal reading lessons or math lessons. However, she will be more than welcome to sit in on our lessons with Benjamin! With Peter, I just hope to survive. I'm working on the schedule through "Managers of their Homes." Hopefully I can get it all tied down by August. But realisticly, I'm guessing I'll just get us through each day until we move. I'm going to work at it though.

Introductions

To begin this "story" you must know who we are. We've got three rather bouncy bunnies around here, so to properly refer to them, we have settled on Ms. Potter's names of a few characters in her stories.

The eldest, we've decided will be Benjamin Bunny. This Benjamin is 7 years old and just finished first grade. He's the leader of these three and is quite the protector of his siblings. He's not quite as mischevious as Peter Rabbit, but as Benjamin did in the book, he can get into quite a pickle, right there along with Peter. This bunny, loves to be out doors, play music, play sports, and has expressed a growing interest in being an artist like Van Gogh.


Our second, we've decided will be Flopsy. There isn't a lot written about Flopsy, Mopsy, or Cotton Tail, so we decided the name just fit her better. She is extremely flopsy! She loves to bounce off the walls! We are constanly catching her trying to do "tricks" on the living room furniture. She's my tree climber already. She's also quite the little runner. She will be 5 this fall and is ready to begin kindergarten. She is eager to read and write and count! She enjoys coloring and being out doors, especially nature walks.


Now, our third, we've decided has to be "Peter Rabbit". He has been just as mischevious as that little tyke of a bunny. He's gotten a thrill out of secretly coloring himself head to toe with (thankfully washable) marker while he was supposed to be napping. He's a climber too, who loves to get on the dining table. He thinks he's just as big as the other two and wants to be just like them, but in his own way! He's very independent and wants to experience life to the fullest! He's also lost several shoes already, so the name just fits this little tyke! He is one and a half, will be two in Nov.

Summer Time

With the heat and humidity rising, it is so tempting to stay indoors! We have found a new appreciation for the outdoors and are striving to soak in as much of the fresh, God-given air as we can! This is the first of hopefully many more posts documenting our life long learning. Welcome to our blog and we hope you enjoy the posts to come.

Blessings!