On The Eve of the First Day after Christmas Break

So on Friday, the Feast of the Epiphany, the Three Magi safely made it to the fireplace mantle to deliver their gifts to the Baby Jesus, Miss Elizabeth found the quarter in her piece of the Galette des Rois, and just for good measure an ice storm topped off with a dusting of snow passed through.  But with all of that, Christmas break has ended.

 

 

 

Our Christmas break has been a delightful couple of weeks of gifting, and feasting, and reading, and friends, and crafting, and movies, and staying up late, and sleeping in, and playing in pajamas well into the morning and occasionally past lunchtime.

 

 

But tomorrow, things need to go back to 'normal'.  We will begin school again, picking back up the last few weeks of the term before exams and starting fresh with a new pile of books.  On Tuesday, the children resume their swimming lessons and choir practices, and on Wednesday we will meet with friends again for co-op.  We're not easing back in, we're diving back in.  

 

On the one hand, we're ready for it.   After two+ solid weeks off, preceded by the flu and a slow limp to the finish line, it feels like it's been a long time since we've had a day in which we followed a normal routine.   The crankiness that is creeping in around the edges is telling me it's time to reclaim it.  On the other hand, I feel overwhelmed by the thought of trying to get that ball rolling again.  Inertia.  An object at rest wants to stay at rest….   Oh how I want to stay at rest.  Sloth is a vice I wrestle with every.single.day.   I need a little something to kick-start me back into action, to help me to gladly go forth and resume the work He has given me to do.

 

Maybe I'm not the only one?  I suspect perhaps that I am not.   I can't offer you a package bundle of resources and checklists that guarantee to help you start the New Year with a bang.  I can't even offer you a blogpost in which I attempt to weave these wise words I have gleaned from others into a coherent whole.  That said, these are a few of the words that have been feeding my soul and strengthening my heart and helping me combat my propensity toward sloth this week as I prepare to shift gears and begin "normal" life again after the slower rhythm of these past weeks.

 

"…the real problem of Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it.  It comes that very moment you wake up each morning.  All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals.  And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.  And so on, all day."  (Pt. 4, Ch. 8)

 

"Every time you fall He will pick you up again.  And he knows perfectly well that your own efforts are never going to bring you anywhere near perfection."  (Pt. 4, Ch, 9)

 

~CS Lewis, Mere Christianity

 

 

"MIDWINTER.  The commonest simile in connection with the new year is a book with blank pages.  Nature's year is also a book to be written.  This midwintertime represents a pause in the turning wheel of life.  It is, in northern lands, the year's low point, its nadir.  Life will swell, reach its zenith, before the next resting time. All the events of spring and summer and autumn, of sprouting and growth and seed time, the beginning and the end, lie ahead.  The whole circle of the seasons stretches away before us as we view the year from the cold plateau of January." (p.2)

 

~Edwin Way Teale, Circle of the Seasons

 

 

"Care is not passive – the word derives from an Indo-European word meaning 'to cry out', as in a lament. Care asserts that as difficult and painful as life can be, it is worth something to be in the present, alive, doing one's daily bit…combating sloth, being willing to care for oneself and others on a daily basis, is no small part of what constitutes basic human sanity, a faith in the everyday." (p.41-42)

 

~Kathleen Norris, The Quotidian Mysteries

 

 

A new year with all its possibility spreads out before me.  Tomorrow morning I will get up.  I will push back the voices that will whisper that it's just too hard, pray this prayer, and trust in His grace and goodness and strength to do my 'daily bit'.   Who's with me?

Reading Plans for 2017

So…yesterday was the *best of* 2016.  Today, I attempt to share my reading plans for 2017.

 

It's a little tricky because I don't really plan out my reading in great detail.  I used to, and doing so sucked all the joy out of reading for me. 

 

That said, there's so much that I want to read.  I don't want to default to nothing but light novels and Netflix.  So, I've settled on a sort of loose plan, more or less, which I thought I'd share here for others who maybe want to try planning their reading in a little more detail, without overwhelming yourself with a neverending list. J

 

At this season in my life, I find I can fairly successfully juggle about 4 titles at a time, in addition to devotional reading, a volume of poetry to sprinkle in here and there, and maybe a book to read with my husband.   I like to keep balance among those four titles, so I have four basic categories:

 

Theology or Practical Christian Living

On Education (which I consider "Professional Development")

Fiction

Nonfiction (Other than Theology or Education)

 

So pretty much the way it works is that I read a title from each of those categories, rotating through them according to what I feel like when I get a few moments here and there to sit down and read.  When I finish one book, I choose another in that category – whatever sort of strikes my fancy at the time.  No particular time limits or schedules or writing of long lists.  I do try to make sure at least one of them is lighter in nature so I don't end up with huge masses of dense, heavy reading and nothing to dig into when I'm tired in the evening.   It's a pretty simple system that allows me freedom to pick and choose, while helping me stay focused and intentional with my precious bits of reading time.

 

The only things I can guarantee that I will be reading in 2017 are these, because I'm already part way into them and I intend to finish. :)

 

 

You can see my basic categories at work there: Middlemarch is my fiction pick, Echoes of Eden the nonfiction, CS Lewis' Mere Christianity (one of the titles in the big "Signature Classics" collection you see there) my theological pick, Norms and Nobility the educational one, and TS Eliot's poetry.  My husband and I are between books right now, but will probably continue our ongoing Jane Austen project (Persuasion?).   And devotionally, I am using The Ancient Christian Devotional which pairs the Sunday lectionary readings for each week with relevant quotes from the church fathers, along with a slow reading of the Gospels, and prayer resources from The Book of Common Prayer.   I fully expect the devotional readings, the TS Eliot poetry, and Norms and Nobility to take all year.  But as I finish books from the other categories I have lots of choices.

 

This is basket of books I've picked up here and there that I'd like to read at some point:

 

 

Some of those are pre-reading for future AO Years.  Some are just because.   There will most definitely be some Shakespeare, and hopefully at least one or two of the book discussion titles over on the AO Forum.  I also have the stack of my "12 Days of Christmas" books from my husband.  (Yes, he bought me a book for every one of the 12 Days of Christmas.  He's pretty amazing, isn't he?)  Pictured here are only days 1-6…there are more to come!  Not to mention things that are trickling in from my Amazon gift card purchases….

 

 

 

So very much to choose from!  And who knows what else will come my way before the end of the year?  Last year two of my favorites were Mere Motherhood and You Are What You Love which weren't even published or on my radar until later in the year. J   I won't read all of these, of course.  But there is so much possibility here.

 

I'm looking forward to a good Year in Books.

 

What are your reading hopes, plans, and dreams for this coming year?

Books of 2016

So, as promised, my "Best Books of 2016".   Even when I'm not otherwise actively blogging, I can't help a good book post. J

 

So…the stats.  I actually read and finished 43 books this year, not counting the Bible or books read to/with the children for school or otherwise.  I was actually shocked by that, because I have felt so often this year that I *just don't read as much as I used to* for a wide variety of reasons.  But that's only 6 short of my 2015 tally.  Granted, I read more light fiction this year that I have typically read in years past, but still pretty respectable.  I guess I'm squeezing more reading in there than I thought I was.

 

My top 5 picks for this year, in no particular order:

 

 

1.       Parents and Children (Charlotte Mason) – This is Charlotte Mason's second volume, and was one of the two that I hadn't yet read (Volume 5 is my last holdout.  Hoping to tackle that one this year.)  I wrote a review of this book here.

 

2.      Mere Motherhood (Cindy Rollins) – Delightful and Profound.  Read my review here.

 

3.      You Are What You Love (James KA Smith) – If you read along with Desiring the Kingdom a couple years ago and liked Smith's ideas but not his delivery so much, this is the book for you.   The basic premise is the same as Desiring the Kingdom, but the presentation and application is much more accessible for ordinary, not-academic-philosophers.  My husband is actually reading and enjoying this one too.   In a nutshell, this is an apologetic for why liturgy matters – both in the formal worship setting, as well as informally in the habits and everyday practices of our lives.  These things form and shape us more than we realize.  It's worth taking the time to consider what kind of people our habits – liturgies – are shaping us into.

 

4.      I Promessi Sposi (The Betrothed)  (Alessandro Manzoni) – This is one of the assigned literature selections in AO Year 8, and one of the titles selected for the Book Discussion group over on the AO Forum this past year.  It is *the* novel of Italy and an epic in every sense of the word – so much food for thought and insight into human nature all wrapped up in a compelling story.

 

5.      Gilead (Marilynne Robinson) – This is an author I've heard mentioned many times in the literary circles I frequent, and I'm so glad I finally gave her a try.   So, so good.  I have her others in my 'to be read' basket, waiting for just the right moment.

 

And a few honorable mentions, just because I can never pick just 5….

 

 

1.       The Tempest (Shakespeare) – I've dipped in to a fair amount of Shakespeare this year as my kids have reached the age that we have started to study Shakespeare for school and I (and they!) am loving it.  I haven't studied this one with the kids yet, but it was far and away my favorite Shakespeare that I have encountered yet.

 

2.      Surprised by Oxford (Carolyn Weber) – So this was a re-read.  For the third or fourth time.  I loved it every bit as much as the first couple of times, but since it has made a previous best book of the year list, I figured maybe I ought to bump it down?   Re-reading it made me wish I had taken an English degree rather than an Elementary Education one, made me want to travel to England and read more CS Lewis (which I have been!), and inspired me to finally finish Paradise Lost, which was worth the effort.

 

3.      Surprised by Joy (CS Lewis) – I've read a fair bit of CS Lewis this year, and this was my favorite of the lot.  So fascinating…I loved reading his story.

 

4.      Caring for Words in a Culture of Lies (Marilyn Chandler McEntyre) – Recommended by a friend from church.  It is a series of essays on using Words well written by a literature professor.  Much food for thought, and a book I will revisit.

 

5.      To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee) – Beautiful picture of what it means to live with integrity in a hostile culture.  I read this back in high school, but it was very meaningful to revisit it as a 30-something adult with that much more experience of the world.

 

There weren't really any books I read this year that I *didn't* like, and actually only one or two that I started and didn't finish.   So I'm sort of hard pressed to pick a bottom of the pile book.  But, if I'm being pressed…I guess I would have to say Emma (Jane Austen).  Don't get me wrong.  I love Jane Austen.  And I love the movie adaptations of this book, so it's not the story that bothers me.  It's just that the pacing of the book itself is slower than some of her others.  Something would happen, and then the next chapter or two would be the characters discussing the thing that happened.  But…I finished it!  I've tried before and just couldn't.   But my hubby and I are very slowly reading through Jane Austen's work together, so I had accountability.   Now we're watching and comparing all the movie versions. :D

 

 

(Yes, I know I am a very lucky girl to have a hubby who actually enjoys reading and watching Jane Austen with me.  He also found my list of books I want to read someday and bought me a book for every single one of the 12 days of Christmas.  And when I fill up my current bookcases, I can count on him to take me back to Ikea for more.  Yes, I am a lucky girl indeed.)

 

What did you read this year? Highlights?  Lowlights?

In Praise of the Morning Walk

I realized recently that our morning routine needed a revamp.  I am not particularly an up-and-at-em kind of person, which is all well and good.  We're homeschoolers, right?  I don't have to have my kids ready for the bus by 6:30 every morning (thank heavens).   But over time our school start time was getting pushed later and later into the morning.  It's important to me to finish lessons by early afternoon so there is still time left in the day for other pursuits.  But with three official students – this is tricky.  It's possible – even if you don't start lessons at the crack of dawn – but it's tricky.

 

What to do?  How could I balance my need to ease into the day without letting it slip too far?

 

My solution: the morning walk.  

 

I had noticed that we do fine getting ready fairly efficiently in the morning when we have a hard-and-fast deadline to walk out the door – such as for church on Sunday or when we had co-op last year.   Apparently, trying to gather everyone on the couch by 9 am for morning basket did not have the same psychological effect.  I wondered – if I said we were going to go out for a walk at 8:30 – actually walk out the door for a walk – if that would have a similar effect?  A hard-and-fast deadline by which breakfast must be done and clothes must be on?  Even if I don't get up until 7 or even a little later – which is often the case – I still theoretically would have time to eat and get a little devotional time in.

 

So we tried it.  And it has worked beautifully.  

 

And not only has it worked beautifully as far as getting us moving in the morning – we are now consistently on the couch with our morning basket by 9am – it has proven to have a myriad of other benefits as well.

 

My oldest daughter and I tend towards being a little groggy in the morning.   Walking gets our blood flowing a little better so our minds are more awake when we hit that morning basket and the rest of the day's lessons that follow.

 

My son has some sensory-type issues and has said before that being outside helps him feel calmer.  This morning walk is helping to meet those sensory needs before they begin interfering with the flow of our day.

 

One of my goals for the coming school year is to build better habits of physical fitness for all of us – not my strong suit.  Adding this morning walk to the day is the first step towards building those habits.

 

While not a "nature walk" per se – we still try to schedule in a longer nature outing once a week or so – we can't help but notice nature.  The birds, the spider in the bushes, the ants, the vine that got tangled up in another kind of bush, the weeds….   As we continue this tradition, we will start to notice what there is to see in our neighborhood in various seasons.   We are training our observational senses and becoming intimately acquainted with our local surroundings, which is really the goal of nature study anyway.  The nature journal is only one tool we use for that, not the be-all-and-end-all.

 

And perhaps best of all – I am guaranteed a focused time of prayer.  I don't always get my devotional time in – or as much as I would like at any rate.   But here is what has been happening – we take our walk in a small park in our subdivision.   After a couple of laps around the path, I let the children go take some time on the playground there, while I take a couple more laps around.  And while I do, I find the quiet and space I need to reflect further on the morning's Scripture reading and lift concerns up to the Lord.   It has been a delight to find my time 'multiplied' in this way.

 

I never thought we really had time for a morning walk before.  Now I am beginning to wonder how we ever managed without it.

 

Try it sometime.  Maybe you will find it is just what you need too.

Summer Plans

I've been seeing a lot of 'summer plan' posts popping up in various places on the internet.   I thought it might be fun to chat about that over here in this space too.  We are actually still in school mode here at our house, and will be until mid-July, and then will be traveling on the West Coast later in the summer.   So really…we don't really have the leisure of a long, lazy summer here.  That said, we are still in need of a little refreshment to ease the monotony that can lead to burnout.  

 

I don't make super-ambitious reading goals anymore, although I always have a running list of books I want to read going in the back of my mind.  The only reading that I'm for sure going to do this summer is to keep up with the I Promessi Sposi discussion, because I'm co-leading it. (I'm also REALLY enjoying it, so no chore there.) I am also slowly reading Athansius' On the Incarnation as my theology pick at the moment, and would like to finish that this summer and move on to something else.  I'd also like to read Charlotte Mason's Volume 2, Parents and Children, which is one of the remaining two that I haven't read yet.  Truth be told, I will likely be reading novels and other lighter fare more than anything else this summer since I anticipate most of my reading time will either be at the pool while the kids swim or while traveling in the car which doesn't really lend itself to dense reading material.  So, we'll see how we go.

We had a very disrupted school year so are still in school mode until mid-July, like I said. We did 4-day weeks with a 5th day for co-op this past year, so we are keeping the 4-days schedule and plan to take that 5th day for a weekly field trip now that co-op is finished for the year. There are several museums that we'd like to visit, and I'd also like to take some longer, full-day type nature walks. I also set aside much of our normal morning basket fare and we will be doing Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, drawing, backyard-type nature study, and some hands-on things related to the topics in CM's Elementary Geography instead. Later in the summer we'll be travelling on the West Coast, mostly to visit family, but hopefully will get some good outings and nature journaling opportunities along the way. So really my 'summer enrichment' will be mostly things that I do WITH the kids. Shakespeare, drawing, nature walks, museums and afternoons by the pool are good for Mama too.

The one other thing that I'd really like to do is do some follow-up study and research after Dawn's Swedish Drill presentation at the Conference (and her recent Mason Jar podcast, and her series of guest posts over at Afterthoughts) and come up with a simple baby-steps plan towards being more intentional about physical fitness in our home after our travel break. So that's my 'something new' to learn about.

 

 

I'm also working towards better habits in the morning - we've been letting far too much of the morning slip away from us before getting going with our school work.  Currently, I'm in the brainstorming mode.  I'd love it if you'd share your morning routine with me in the comments - perhaps your routine will help me think outside the box for improvements I can make to ours.

And that's the plan. What about you?

Reflections on Ivanhoe, Interruptions, and Personhood

Our current book discussion over on the AO Forum is Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe.  We are only about a third of the way through it, but thus far it is (to quote one of my dear book discussion friends) magnificent.  Scott really has a way with descriptions, both in his scenes as well as in his characters.   The insights we have gained into each character have been very thought provoking.   Consider the following interaction from chapter 16 between a waylaid knight lost in the woods as night draws near and a secretive friar (the 'anchorite') who is reluctant to let him in and seems to be trying to hide something:

"But how," replied the knight, "is it possible for me to find my way through such a wood as this, when darkness is coming on?  I pray you, reverend father, as you are a Christian, to undo your door, and at least point out to me my road."

"And I pray you, good Christian brother," replied the anchorite, "to disturb me no more.  You have already interrupted one pater, two aves, and a credo, which I, miserable sinner that I am, should, according to my vow, have said before moonrise."

 

~Sir Walter Scott, Ivanhoe

This interaction immediately struck me because my gut instinct was to dislike the Friar - he obviously hiding something and skirting around it (although the knight very cleverly draws him out, as you discover as you continue to read the chapter).   And yet, how often do I respond in the same way that he does?  To my children?  To my husband?  How often do I get disgruntled when I am interrupted in what I want to do or called out on something, and justify my disgruntled response based on the "virtue" behind what I got disrupted from?  A child interrupts my devotional or prayer time to come sit in my lap and I push them away.  Or they get into an argument in the other room while I am trying to complete some 'important' task on the computer and I need to break my thought process and step away with the task incomplete yet again.  Or my husband wants to talk and I'd rather read my book.  Or whatever.  The list of 'interruptions' could go on.

 

But what if maybe that 'disruption' is something that God is calling me to in that moment?  Attending to the needs of my children.  Cultivating my relationship with my husband.  Taking time to help a friend.    I keep coming back to some of the presentations made at the AO Conference this summer.    My children - and my husband too - were born People.  I love them.  They are not just 'projects'.  As a mother, wife, homeschooler, and homemaker, I need to learn seize those 10 minutes here and there – whether that is 10 minutes to attend to a child or 10 minutes to attend to my husband or 10 minutes to attend to myself or my personal project – and not get disgruntled when I can't seem to get more than that.   And I need to continue to cultivate a habit of keeping a running conversation with God in the back of my mind, so that my communion with Him is uninterrupted even when my focused devotional time is.

 

I kinda think if I could remember those things - that my interruptions are People, that 10 minutes may be all I have, and that He is ever present with me – I would be less disgruntled when someone comes knocking at my door.

What I Took Away From the Ambleside At Home Retreat....

You mean besides a beautiful new coffee mug and an advance copy of Karen Glass' new book Mind to Mind…signed by Karen herself? J

 

 

 

 

Karen Glass reminded us that we are educating MINDS and not BRAINS.  Minds are spiritual, rather than physical, and therefore need spiritual food: IDEAS.   When we feed a child properly, she will grow physically.  The process happens slowly – it may be a while before you notice the growth, but it will come.  An apple tree doesn't produce apples overnight, and we don't expect it to.   Likewise, when we feed a child's mind properly, regularly, and faithfully, the fruit will come in its own time.  Karen encouraged us to keep spreading the feast and trusting the process.

 

Cindy Rollins continued that theme in her talk, reminding us to start small and do what you can – even if that's only one page of Plutarch, for example – and to do those things faithfully.  Don't start big and get frustrated and give up.  Start small and let things grow from there, because they will.  She encouraged us to be faithful with our "10 minutes" because you never know how the Lord will use those moments.  She encouraged us to develop a habit of praying without ceasing because God has a plan for our children and we can trust them to Him.  She said a lot of other things too, but these were some of the key thoughts for me.

 

Christy's breakout session on scheduling reminded me that the child is a Person, and the Person matters first.  The Person trumps the book or the curriculum or the schedule every single time.  We are finite beings so we need to plan our priorities carefully.  One of our top priorities needs to be margin – we need white space in our lives so we have time to process what we are reading and learning.  We need routines, but those routines need to be simple and doable.

 

I forget who said it in answer to a question during the Q&A session - maybe it was Donna-Jean? - anyhow, she charged us to remember that we love our children and that they are not our projects.

 

Jeanne and Kathy's enthusiastic but gentle encouragement about implementing AO science left me feeling like yes, I can do this.  I get nervous sometimes about trusting the process of nature study instead of textbooks for science in the younger years.  And upper level science terrifies me in the extreme.  Their session helped me to see the bigger picture a little better – how nature study really IS the best preparation we can give a child for the formal science studies of the upper years. Flipping through the books used for science in the upper levels of AO was helpful in this regard too - we really WILL cover all those things that I sometimes worry we are missing now.  They reminded us that science studies should inspire wonder - that is truly the goal.

 

I'm sure the third breakout session that I had planned to attend (nature study)  was wonderful too.   But I never got that far.  I popped back into the dining room to grab a cup of coffee between sessions, and ended up spending the next hour first having a lovely and very encouraging chat with Jeanne…and then moving over to another table to join Karen Glass, Cindy Rollins, and Anne White.  Still kind of pinching myself.  These women are not only wise and encouraging, but also approachable and down to earth.  Our chat wasn't about anything profound, but still, it was a privilege to be seated around the table with such wise mentors.

 

Donna-Jean gave the closing address about Homeschooling in Hard Times.   I bawled most of the way through it, in part because I was so touched by what she shared, and in part because the retreat was so rapidly coming to an end – I had to leave the minute it was over to head back to the airport.   Donna-Jean's family has weathered some incredibly difficult circumstances over the years.  And yet she stood before us and reminded us that God is with us through the storm.  That Aslan is on the move.  That Jesus wants to renew your mind.  That He gave us these children to teach so that WE could learn.  That it was time to go home, but that Jesus goes with us – that the joy of the Lord is our strength – and that He is able and safe to trust.  The conference closed with the hymn Amazing Grace.

 

So, yes, I am mulling over many ideas still.  But perhaps what touched me the most was this:

 

 

Ambleside women are amazing, and the Ambleside Online community is truly a work of the Lord.  Once upon a time, years ago – before marriage, children, or homeschooling was ever on my radar – a few women started reading Charlotte Mason's writings and reached out on the internet for others to discuss her work with.   The Ambleside Online curriculum was born out of this small beginning.  Later the Forum was opened to support those using the curriculum and trying to implement Charlotte Mason's ideas in their homes.  I've long wondered at the camaraderie that we've formed in that little corner of the web – it's unique.  I don't know of anywhere else on the web like it.   But the joy of taking some of those online friendships and making them into real-life friendships this weekend – I have no words.  The retreat was called "At Home", and we truly all felt like we had come home.   I am so very grateful that the Lord led us to AO, and so very blessed to be part of this community.

 

I can't wait for 2016.  

Summertime Plans and Ponderings...

So, we are actually on a summer break.  I don't know if we've ever taken a really-truly-proper summer break.  We've always been 'take off a week or two here and there' type of homeschoolers.  Taking a good six weeks off all at once….I don't think we've ever done that.

 

Why now?  Well, we had planned to be travelling all summer, so I had organized our school terms out accordingly since I'm not interested in trying to homeschool on the road.   Now we aren't going to be travelling apart from a couple of weeks to visit my in-laws at the end of July.   I didn't feel like tweaking the plans I had already made, however.  So a six-week summer break it is.    And quite honestly, the lack of regular routine aside, I'm relieved.  I love homeschooling.  Overall it has been a really fantastic, wonderful thing for our family.  At the same time I am really glad to have some time to come to a full stop for a while, to just enjoy being together as a family and doing things when and how we feel like doing them (rather than because the schedule says so), and to take time to reflect on the past few years – where we've been as a family, where we want to go as a family, and what we need to do to get there.             

 

This article on a Charlotte Mason style summer plan has been circulating lately and it gave me a good framework to think through how I want to use these precious weeks off this summer.  Here are some of my plans, inspired by that article:

 

Mother Culture:

I'm definitely planning to read this summer, although quite honestly most of my current reading is of the lighter variety.  I'm trying out Elizabeth Goudge on the recommendation of some AO friends, and have a couple of other lighter-but-not-twaddly novels on order thanks to their suggestions.   I'm not up for another Dickens or finally tackling a Russian author this summer. :P  I will hopefully finish up Beowulf and How to Read a Book – both books I'm discussing with some ladies on the AO Forum.   I'm re-reading  When Children Love to Learn (more on that in a minute).  I'm also trying to be intentional to carve out time for daily Bible study and spiritual reading every day – my soul is very much in need of refreshment so this is a top priority.

 

I am also planning to take advantage of my husband being around this summer to sneak out to a coffee shop once or twice a week to write.  I can't do this in Africa and I had almost forgotten that it was possible.   This is definitely an exciting development.

 

I'm also hoping to spend time in some crafty pursuits, both for myself and with the children.  Michelle and I have been crocheting together.  Littlest one is itching to do some sewing, and I have been wanting to try to learn some new embroidery stitches so I may sit down and do some of that with her.  We also recently bought the Artistic Pursuits Elementary 4-5 curriculum which focuses on drawing techniques – Michelle and I have enjoyed the first couple of lessons and the little ones have joined in some too – even Papa is intrigued and may join us next time we pull it out.  James is enjoying various hands-on fix-it jobs with his Papa.

 

We are hoping to plug in to a good local church where we are living for the year – we visited one last week that is very promising – my soul is need of corporate worship, good teaching  and fellowship (in English!!).  And I am also excited that I will be able to attend two different Ambleside Online Retreats later this summer and meet in person many of the ladies that have been my online homeschooling support network these past couple of years.  (I will be in Indiana and at a smaller retreat in the Texas Hill Country…will I see you?)

 

Nature and Outdoor Time:

This one has been a little tricky because it has been pushing 100 for the past week or so where we are.  We are from Africa.  It gets hot in Africa.  It doesn't get THIS hot in Africa (at least not the part where we lived).  Yeesh.  It's put a bit of a damper on our plans to try out some of the parks and nature trails in this new-to-us area, although as soon at the temperature dips a bit, we will.  In the meantime, we are at least trying to take a walk around our neighborhood in the evening when the heat isn't quite so intense.  We also  just got a season pass for our local pool which is only a 5 minute walk from our apartment – we'll be there often.  We've procured bikes for the children, and as soon as my husband can get a hold of one for himself he will probably start taking the older two out on bike rides a little farther afield than our parking lot. J   There is apparently a nature museum and a hands-on science museum in the nearby 'big city', so we may visit those on some of those too-hot-to-spend-much-time-outside days.

 

Take a Good Look:

I'm really good at making schedules and other practical plans for our homeschool.  I love making neat-and-tidy charts and checklists and organizing new books.  However, in the craziness of our life over the past few years, it's been a long time since I've considered matters such as atmosphere, relationships, and habits.   I'm re-reading When Children Love to Learn as a guide to help me contemplate these principles, and I'm determined to put off any further practical planning until I've had some good time to think and pray through these more foundational issues.   I'm also teaching in a co-op setting in the fall for the first time, so I also want to consider how to put those principles to work in a group setting.   I'm sure I'll be processing some of those thoughts in this space.  Stay tuned.

 

Masterly Inactivity:

And yes, we will be practicing masterly inactivity as well – unstructured time for personal pursuits.  My oldest has built – and is continuing to add to – a "Borrower House" in a corner of the living room.  James is spending lots of time with Legos – his room has become his Lego-Man-Cave (are 7 year olds enough to have a man-cave?  Well, he does anyway.)  Now if only I could convince my littlest one that masterly inactivity was a good idea….

 

What are you planning to do this summer?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

My Commonplace Book

In my 2014 reading round-up post, I mentioned that last year I started keeping a Commonplace Book.  Today, I thought I'd give you a little glimpse of it.

 

First of all, though, perhaps a bit of explanation might be in order.  What is a Commonplace Book?  Laurie Bestvater describes it this way in her excellent book The Living Page:

 

"The Commonplace collects student-selected passages but from any and all reading on any and all subjects.  Mason also refers to it as a Reading Diary.  Though a Commonplace may contain student writing in the form of the odd character sketch or plot summary, it generally consists of other people's writing. Like a graduated form of the copybook, it is begun in earnest by the student at middle or high school age when his learning is becoming more and more under his own direction and, ideally, used throughout life….the syllabus instructs Form IV [high school aged students] to 'keep a Commonplace Book for passages that strike you particularly.' And likely students would have known exactly what was meant: a personalized notebook that crossed subjects and was meant to go with them everywhere as a dear companion and a record of their reading/learning."

~Laurie Bestvater, The Living Page, p.32-33

 

So really, it's just a book in which to jot down interesting quotes from your reading.  Charlotte Mason encouraged her older students to develop the habit during their school days with a goal of continuing as a lifelong practice.   I started mine last year in part because I hated to mark up my lovely, old, rare (expensive!) copy of Essex Cholmondely's The Story of Charlotte Mason, and in part because I do much of my reading on the Kindle.  While I do use the 'marks' feature frequently to highlight passages as I read, it doesn't have the same impact as highlighting and scribbling marginal notes in a real book.  Jotting those quotes and notes down in a separate notebook seemed a good solution to that little issue.

 

So here it is.  It's actually just a hardback composition book that I purchased during back-to-school season at one of the supermarkets in our city here in Africa.  I'd love to be able to have a really lovely, classy notebook for this purpose (someday…), but for now kinda-cutesy composition books will have to do. (I actually loved seeing some photos of one of Charlotte Mason's own Commonplace Books over at Afterthoughts last week…and was very gratified to see that she just used an ordinary composition book too.)  I do use a nice pen to write in it though:

 

 

Here's a peek inside:

 

 

And a closer up quote, a selection from Charlotte Mason's Ourselves (which is highly quotable by the way…lots of entries from the past couple months have come from this book.  I wonder if Charlotte ever dreamed that people would be Commonplacing her words?) :

 

 

And that's it.  It's pretty simple.  I don't tend to put much other than direct quotes, other than occasionally a sentence or two to explain the context if that seems necessary.  I've found this to be a wonderfully helpful practice.  Taking the time to stop and write out by hand the interesting or beautiful or thought-provoking passage from a book has caused me to reflect and retain more than just reading and marking in the book.   Looking back over previous entries jogs those memories too.   It also forces me to slow down and read more carefully rather than just rush right through, something that is right in line with my reading goals for this coming year.

 

I'm sharing this post over at Celeste's new Keeping Company link-up at Joyous Lessons.  Click on over and check it out for more 'Keeping' inspiration!