Well Friends,
If you haven't been with us for long then you mightn't know that we host a bit of a virtual support group here Under the Maple Tree to compliment the real life support group that I also get to enjoy meeting here in my home.
Every year, the little group of us choose a book that we will read and discuss together. In the past we have read some really great resources like For the Children’s Sake and A Charlotte Mason Companion. Last year we went through the newest edition of Educating the WholeHearted Child. Of course, from time to time, we also add in readings from Charlotte Mason’s own writings.
This
year’s book is A Biblical Home Education by Dr. Ruth Beechick.
I’m sorry
that I am posting this information after the fact as we have recently had our
first meeting but if you’d like to join us for these gatherings either in
person or virtually, I wanted to let you know the details and let you know that
you are welcome.
As we did
last year, I am going to try to post notes on the readings after each
meeting. I didn’t do very well at it
last year even though so many of you responded with comments on the blog or by
email. I guess I can only do better this
year. And I am sure that I will improve since
the ever so helpful Jacki Young, who has been faithfully be helping to lead our
little group in my living room for the past year, has also now offered to take
minutes of our meetings so that if you can’t be here because of scheduling
conflicts or because of distance, you can still access the resources and ideas
that we chatted about. Thank you Jacki!
So, if you’d
like to join us then, the meeting schedule and reading list is as follows:
September 20: Introduction and
Chapter 1 (20 pages) Bible
November 1: Chapter 2 (18 pages)
History
December 6: Chapter 3 (18 pages)
Science
January 10: Chapter 4 (18 pages)
Worldview
February 21: Chapter 11 (22 pages)
Choosing Curriculum
April 4: Chapters 5 & 6 and
Appendix (42 pages): Thinking Skills, Reading Skills, Cross-Dominance
May 9: Chapters 7 & 8 (35 pages)
Study Skills, Writing Skills
June 13: Chapters 9 & 10 (27
pages) Grammar Skills, Early Education
I guess I have had it in my head
that we are going to roughly read the book from front to back (in a manner that
we don’t often). J Since there are more chapters than
meetings we will be doing one chapter some meetings and two during others. We
usually attach some sort of list of practical topics to the reading so that we
have the chance to look at and share resources but I thought that, though Dr.
Beechick’s is a fairly simplified list, we could just use her chapter topics
for our practical discussions as well and try to embrace her philosophy a bit
more fully. That is, Dr. Beechick’s
philosophy is that there really are just two topics that should encompass
schooling: language arts skills and content, or learning to read and reading. Given that the first four chapters are about
the content and the next five are about language arts skills, I thought we
should deal with the first chapters individually and the later ones in twos. Please
note that we will read chapter 11 out of order since it is about choosing
curriculum and some wise women thought it would be helpful to look at that just
before we start going to conferences in the spring.
If you’d like to join us for the
meetings in Bradford then here are the rest of
the details about our little gatherings. You don’t need to be a die hard “CMer”
to attend nor do you even have to have or read the book though it is our basis
for discussion. You can come for one meeting or for all – there is no cost to
join. Meetings are for parents only (and nursing babes, of course) and are held
on Thursday evenings at my home in Bradford
from 7:30 to 9:30. I have copies of the Beechick book available for $14
(as well as many other Charlotte Mason style resources) if you need them. If you would like to attend, then please
RSVP to me, Cori Dean, at 905-778-9412 or mapletreepublications@sympatico.ca,
and I will send you my address and answer any other questions that you have.
Looking forward to meeting with many of you
during this school year!
Blessings,
Cori
Maple Tree
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