...and preach the good news to all creation."

That's what we are commissioned to do in Mark 16:15 . What a noble goal to have for yourself and your children. Go into ALL the world, and preach the GOOD NEWS...yes Lord let it be so.

But, for them to go INTO ALL the world; shouldn't they first intimately explore the works of His hands? Shouldn't they see His glory, and stand in awe of the goodness He has created for us?

I believe they should. The more I study Nature; the more in Love with God I become. The more His love for us, and our need for Him becomes apparent to me.

Nature Study is a HUGE part of our schooling philosophy, but you already know we follow the CM method so that's nothing new. What is new is how He has seen fit to open my eyes. I went into all this Nature Study time hoping my children would learn more about trees. Instead God has beckoned me clearly....ALL of it....See Me in everything....

SO I am listening.

This year through His guidance and goodness we are covering a heavy science load. BUT, we are hardly using the books I intended to use. We are in 2 co-ops, and both are covering Earth sciences. Both are covering separate areas except on 2 occasions, that happen to coincide. Isn't He good?

We are also doing a double geography study. We are using Paddle-to-the-sea, and A Child's Geography: Explore His Earth. We love them both, but today I want to share some other materials we've been using on our whole Earth study.

We followed the suggestions at the end of chapter one of ACG. We've read the books, and I have an awesome paper mache globe suspended above my desk that I would have never been brave enough to attempt without it.

Our favorite book suggestion from it has been:
Earth from Above for Young Readers by Yann Arthus-Bertrand: for me, the pictures are a must see. They show our home in breathtaking splendor from God's view. you can also see his work here

We also enjoyed:
A House is a House for Me
Children from Australia to Zimbabwe

Its so great to see what a starting point a good living book can be. It spurs you on. It gives you new vital ideas. It opens your eyes, and makes you long to see.

In our attempt to see the home God created for us more clearly we are also reading:
Material World: A Global Family Portrait By Peter Menzel: a reality check for ANY American child.

and last but not least we have been watching the Planet Earth series, and tonight we watched DisneyNatures Earth. I don't know how anyone doubts an intelligent designer after visually experiencing the depth and breadth of life and coexistence on our planet.

Tonight I stand in awe of my Maker. Not just because of the works of His hands, as wonderful and awesome as they are; but because out of all He made He choose us as His Beloved. He gave us dominion of it all. Wow, what a task to be trusted with.

So I will teach my children to revere the works of His hands, and to care for the home He made us. To see His glory in a daisy, or a Golden Eagle flying over head now, so that when they are prepared to 'Go into all the world and share the the Good News' His goodness, and love will resound through their souls. So they will know that not only did He die to rectify our broken relationship and cleans our sins, but He is the great provider. For us and all creation.

I have taken to thinking of the time I spend reading Charlotte's books, and books on her Method as long amazing conversations with an old friend. I open the spines with highlighter in hand, and a prayer fresh off my lips; eager to hear what this wise woman has to say. Blessed that she's so candid when sharing that precious wisdom with me.

After all who am I?

I am a mother trying to live simply and do her best by her children. I am a Believer that by the Grace of the One true God gets to start each day a new. I am a Teacher. No, not just any teacher; I have been called to hold the hands of 3 sweet souls as they learn about themselves, the world and the wonderful Creator who formed it all. Oh yes I am more, we all are. All the hats can get exhausting. They can cause us to loose it. They can cause us to question...they often bring me to my knees in frustration and prayer.

...let me back up and say that today was not one of those days. But last night, oh yes. Last night after making peace with my children, and chatting with God I sought out a chat with Charlotte.

It's funny really. When I picture her she's not in a fancy full Victorian dress, she looks like me but older. She's got dirt under her nails (although I know that wouldn't be proper) after all how can you dig around in nature and stay clean? Her hair is tied up, yet somehow a small one has managed to muss it all up. She's laughing, and smiling, and practicing perfect Masterly Inactivity. She draws me in. I want to know her. I want to emulate her. I want to see the changes in my children that she's seen time and again. So when her words speak to me, my breath catches and I try my best to seal them on my heart.

This home school journey has SO much goodness, so many opportunities for grace. The breadth of life is at your child's finger tips everyday, it's so hard knowing what to do. Having a mentor makes this journey easier for me. Sure she says a silly thing now and again to date her; but really what old gal doesn't. The core of her knowledge is sound and based on truth, and as she is quick to remind us "all truths are Gods truths".

So as I battled yesterday to do it all, and lost. God reminded me I am His and the battle is too, my children forgave the short tempered lunatic that took over me, and Charlotte reassured me. Reminding me of a few things she's mentioned over and over again. She didn't raise her voice, or get exasperated with me. No, instead she lowered it to ensure I'd pay full attention THIS time-

Dearest Desiree, let's Review of Six Points Already Considered,

1. The knowledge that is most valuable to a child is what he gets in the open air (with some guidance) by seeing with his own eyes, hearing with his own ears and feeling with his own fingers.

2. School time has no right to steal the time that the child is entitled to have for long hours of daily exercise and discovery.

3. The child should be taken every day, if at all possible, to some scenic place where he can find new things to examine and add to his collection of knowledge. His attention should be drawn to a certain flower or boulder or bird or tree. He should be encouraged to investigate common things in his environment because that will be the foundation of his scientific knowledge.

4. Active, healthy playing is just as important as school lessons for both physical health and mental brain growth. Children need time for both play and lessons.

5. The child should be left to himself a lot, although with supervision. This way he can go off and use the information he has received in his own way, and be more open to the influence of nature.

6. The child's happiness depends on his progress. He should enjoy his lessons, and there should never be friction over schoolwork. (home education pg177-178)

...ah yes. I hear you Charlotte, and I strive to not only listen but apply.

In case you are wondering our summer school plan was a huge success. So much so that I got lost in reality...LOL....but of all the places to find yourself lost, I personally can't think of a better one then in the moment.


This week was the beginning of a few things. First we transitioned to full week schedule, and second we started Before Five in a Row with Abby. Both are going great. So great in fact that when AJ was talking to his public school friends about school starting for them this week he said he really likes home school 'cause he gets to do fun stuff like narrations. For me, a CM mama, nothing could have sounded sweeter. I think the fact that we had all summer to get acquainted with this new way of learning was perfect.

That's where the trickle down effect comes in. Abby is in love with the idea of school. She tries to do narrations, and she has her own copywork and nature notebooks. So when I started doing BFIAR with her this week she was ecstatic.

We are rowing Jesse Bear, What do you wear? by Nancy White Carlstrom. It's so cute. yesterday I made her her own Jesse Bear and thanks to auntie Joan I had fabric laying around that I used to cut out some clothes for him. She played with it all afternoon!

Oh yes the love of learning is trickling down but why shouldn't it? Like Charlotte says:

"Children never get tired of finding out, in their own way, about new things. This is just the kind of thing they hunger for because that's what their minds need to grow on."
-Charlotte Mason, Home education in Modern English. (click here to read her for yourself!)

Today we started summer school.

...in case you didn't notice it's 3 weeks earlier then I had planned. I think that's one of the greats parts about home school...our students are our guides. As for me- I've spent the last few months batting hands and hiding books. Then it dawned on me how utterly ridiculous that was, and I ask him if he'd like to start early. His answer was a resounding YES!

So here we are. Today.

My plan is simple (or so I hope) I am splitting one week of school into 3 Tuesday/Thursday weeks. That way we are easing in. We will still cover all the topics I wanted to cover. We will still work in a 2 1/2 to 3 hour time frame; but I will be able to take time to outline my expectations for each topic and introduce any background that needs explaining. After our sessions today I'm feeling great.

Oh yes, today right, I guess you'd like to hear about it hu?

We began our school day after everyone was finished with their breakfast- a little before 9:00. We all gathered on the couch and read the story of Jonah. I chose to start with it for a few reasons. The first being that we have a friend named Jonah; that peaked AJ's interest. The second was the "slippery fish" song. I know that seems silly but I knew it would bring Abby into the story. They both sat well through the story (Bree on the other hand...) and the following song. I chose to mix up the lyrics on Abby and had Jonah splash in on the sharks head...that was a HUGE hit. It was great to listen to AJ's naration, and see my kids eyes sparkle as they listened to the word of God.

Next we did Math. It went great! I really like the Math-U-See program. AJ loved building his Math. It's so Charlotte friendly too! Things, before symbols. Build, before writing. We had fun. While we did math Abby played with lacing frogs, and Bree snacked.

Then after a quick snack./nap break it was time to study poetry. Today we started with Robert Louis Stevenson's Bed in Summer.

In winter I get up at night
And dress by yellow candle-light.
In summer, quite the other way, I have to go to bed by day.

I have to go to bed and see
The birds still hopping on the tree,
Or hear the grown-up people's feet
Still going past me in the street.

And does it not seem hard to you,
When all the sky is clear and blue,
And I should like so much to play,
To have to go to bed by day?

...He could so relate! Isn't it so very wonderful and grounding to know that kids never change? I loved watching his expressions as he was listening in agreement. For poetry narrations I have decided they should be drawn. So we are starting a little binder of his poetry interpretations...LOVE IT!

Then we took our mid day break....whew.... While playing we discovered life! Both a grasshopper that let him hand feed him, and a teeny praying mantis. There was this moment while we were at the park with some good friends that he walked up to me and asked "When are we gonna go finish school mom?" ...wow... can it really be this great? was the next thought I had.

Once we came home and got the girls settled for what I hoped would be naps (prayers are coveted here) we moved on to today's Literature. We read The sword of Damocles. When we got to the middle and he heard it was hanging by a mere horse hair his eyes grew big as saucers! That was another really good narration.

I was feeling very confident in my home schooling abilities until we hit Copy work. Man, that was rough. He dug in his heals, took forever, and still turned in work that was sub par. I know that sounds awful but it's true. I was feeling discouraged, then after talking it over with Jay I remembered this is a starting point. Attention to detail, and doing his true personal best are skills they never made him hone in public school. So we are treading on new ground. It's bound to be bumpy.

AH, but redemption was just around the bend. By intelligent design we ended our "official" school day with art. I bought him a nice sketch book and good pencils. It was like a dream come true. If I would let him, I'm sure he'd be drawing still. His lesson was in foreshortening. That is when you make one part of an object appear closer then another part.

All in all I feel good. But better yet, he's excited. We are in unknown territory but....

Life is either a daring adventure or nothing. To keep our faces toward change and behave like free spirits in the presence of fate is strength undefeatable - Helen Keller

....I think she knows what she's talking about, and it makes me smile to hope that Charlotte would agree.

Twaddle...

I have mix feelings about it. I guess I should first define how Charlotte defined it:

Twaddle--Inferior books without any depth of thought. They have been dumbed down supposedly to suit the child's level. They have no real merit other than possibly a moment's of entertainment, but the brain and the imagination are not exercised in reading these books.

There are some books that firmly fall into this category for me. The books I cringe at upon sight, the books with dull illustrations, watered down words, and most of all the books that talk down to me and my children. Most character books fall into this category, as well as a ton of the early readers.

I almost always choose books carefully. Avoiding those types of twaddle and instead feed my children on beautiful, exciting life enhancing books. Charlotte defined them as living.

Living Books --Books that are so engaging you don't want to put them down. Your children will beg for "just one more chapter." And you, the adult, even enjoy living books. They are classic. When the book ends, you feel sorry that there is not more. These books engage your thoughts and imagination with the vivid narrative and realistically portrayed characters.

I guess here is where my conundrum lies. Are all books this or that? With small children don't picture books have a place?

A few good examples are Dr. Seuss and Shel Silverstein. They are our beloved friends. I could lose an afternoon with my children cuddled up giggling about the creatures they envision, or the circumstance our current main character is in. They are full of made-up words, and fanciful ideas; very twaddlish. But, most of them have deeper meaning that my children ponder, spark their imaginations, and are well written (be it with words of fancy). So are they twaddle or not?

I wonder how Charlotte would see them if she had a 21th century eye. Would she approve?

At the end of the day, I guess it doesn't matter. There are some fanciful works that will always stay on my bookshelf. Some books I keep just in case we need a good giggle to lighten the mood. Some of those very books I'm sure are twaddle- yet they help improve the quality of a bad day; so they stay. Many other trusted friends fall in the in between but our love and enjoyment of them make them keepers. True twaddle, and any other books we don't enjoy (yes, even highly suggested living books from time to time) get tossed because as Charlotte said:

The children must enjoy the book. The ideas it holds must each make that sudden, delightful impact upon their minds, must cause that intellectual stir, which mark the inception of an idea. (Vol. 3 Chapter 16 How to Use School-Books, p.178)

and

Therefore, the selection of their first lesson-books is a matter of grave importance, because it rests with these to give children the idea that knowledge is supremely attractive and that reading is delightful. Once the habit of reading his lesson-book with delight is set up in a child, his education is--not completed, but--ensured; he will go on for himself in spite of the obstructions which school too commonly throws in his way.
(Vol. 1 Part VIII--Reading for Older Children, p.229)