I am so excited to start a new year of Charlotte Mason Support Group! As many of you know I host this little book club for very selfish reasons as I am so energized and encouraged by the visits of like-minded mamas every 5-6 week. You give me a boost that helps me to imagine I might survive this crazy game for a few more weeks.
If you have never visited, please feel welcome to
come and join us. This is a meeting for
home educating parents interested in or practicing the Charlotte Mason
philosophy. Babes in arms are welcome
but otherwise it is a nice evening for mom’s to get out and just socialize
without our little cherubs. We meet on
Thursdays from 7:30-9:30. This year, we
are going to turn over a new leaf and start promptly at 7:30 and I will give an
incentive – an on-time draw – for the first meeting, so come a few minutes
early if you can. :)
Our readings and discussion always revolve around
the Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education and the implementation of that
philosophy. If you are unfamiliar with her
then, in short, she was a British educator of about 100 years ago who believed
in the value and ability of all children despite their age or social status: a
revolutionary idea at the time. She
taught that we have three main tools of education which are summed up in the
phrase, “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life”. In other words, we don’t just set before our
kids a vast cornucopia of academic matter (life) but just as important is the
acquisition of strong habits (discipline) like attentiveness and perseverance in
order to prepare us for adult life and work.
And all of this must be presented in a way that doesn’t talk down to
kids but respects them as persons and thereby doesn’t bribe them to learn for
the sake of marks or the satisfaction of the teacher but for the love of
learning itself. She encouraged us to do
this by not creating a specialized schoolish environment (atmosphere) but by
putting our kids in touch with great ideas, amazing literature, beautiful
artwork, and music and simply experiencing them. As such, she encouraged the
use of narration, living books, short lessons and lots of free time, nature
hikes, and being exposed to great art and music.
If this style of educating resonates with your
family and you live nearby enough to the Bradford, Ontario area, then plan to
visit and jot the dates in your calendar now.
The book that we are reading this year is For the Children’s Sake
by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay. I’ve read
this book before and it is among my top three homeschooling book
favourites. Rereading it right now is such
a treat. It’s very inspirational and
philosophical. If you’d like a copy of
the book, I have extras in stock at $18.75 each, plus GST.
The dates and reading schedule are below. Please do let me know if you are coming so I
know how many folks to plan for. If you
haven’t been here before, email me for address information at cori@mapletreepublications.ca.
In addition to our book study we also try to
bring balance to the meeting with some theory or practical application. This year we decided to add practical
pursuits for moms, or what Miss Mason would call “Mother Culture”, some of the passions
and hobbies that we as mamas pursue to enrich our own education, (which, in
turn, will enrich the lives and education of our children). We would love to have 8 different people
volunteer to lead discussion on these chats and so far have had many
suggestions but only settled on the topic for the first meeting: Catherine Dell’Erba
will be sharing about organic living and choosing foods wisely for our families
so please feel free to bring any ideas or resources that could add to that
discussion as well.
Dates, reading assignments, and mother culture
topics are as follows:
September 24th, 2015 - CANCELLED
Read Introduction and Chapter 1: What is
Education? (pages 1-11)Mother Culture: Organic living facilitated by Catherine Dell’Erba
October 22nd - * NOTE DATE CORRECTION *
Read Introduction and Chapter 1: What is Education? (pages 1-11)& Chapter 2: “Children Are Born Persons” (pages 12-41)
Mother Culture: TBA
December 3rd
Read Chapter 3: Authority and Freedom (pages 42-58)Mother Culture: TBA
January 7th, 2016
Read Chapter 4: A New Perspective (pages 59-90)Mother Culture: TBA
February 11th
Read Chapter 5: Education: A Science of
Relationships; Knowledge of God (pages 91-105)Mother Culture: TBA
March 24th
Read Chapter 5: Education: A Science of
Relationships; Knowledge of Man (pages 106-132)Mother Culture: TBA
(April 2nd KWCHEA Conference in Kitchener,
Ontario)
(April 16th RVHEA Conference in Ottawa,
Ontario)(April 29th & 30th OCHEC Convention in Hamilton, Ontario)
May 5th
Read Chapter 5: Education: A Science of
Relationships; Knowledge of the Universe (pages 133-147)Mother Culture: TBA
(May 28th KATCH Conference in Peterborough,
Ontario)
(May 27th & 28th HENB
Conference in Sussex, New Brunswick)
June 2nd
Read Chapter 6: The Way of the Will, Reason, and
the Unity of the Whole (pages 148-158)Mother Culture: TBA
(June??? Tentative: Barrie New and Used
Homeschool Sale)
(June 10th TEACH New and Use Sale in Brantford,
Ontario)
Looking forward to seeing many of you at these
gatherings! I am so looking forward to these meetings this year.
Blessings on your 2015-2016 home school year!
Cori
cori@mapletreepublications.ca
905-778-9412
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