Week 2-The Atmosphere of Home-Tuesday

Sorry this posting is so late, friends! Tonight was my first evening leading a neighborhood discussion on nature study. The meeting was fruitful and blessed! I love seeing children get away from phones/screens and be children :) On to chapter 31... I loved this chapter! From beginning to end we are reminded of many truths. I highlighted a few. " Charlotte Mason and Charles Dickens both came from poor families that bought books with their spare change". I don't know exactly why but that phrase spoke to me. As homeschool moms, we walk a different path then other moms. I remember for so many years, our family sacrificed to buy books. We made a priority to provide good "food" to our children and we still do. When I created the Kindergarten curriculum, I also intended for families to build living book libraries. I believe as Charlotte Mason mothers, books will be our "right hand" in many ways. I've never regretting the sacrifices we have made to buy books.. Other notes I made in this chapter: Charles Dickens admits to learning very little in school ( Interested me ) His love of reading inspired him and he set out to be self-educated Both Charlotte Mason and Dickens were mostly self-educated Members of Charlotte's PNEU were doing their part to reform England's education system. ( I feel this way about all of us, we are living in a time of educational despair. Our jobs as home educators is to live out Charlotte's methods and help others along the way. I believe we are living in a sort of renaissance of true education) The way Dickens displayed rough school masters as the villains was interesting to me. That rigid atmosphere, which included physical punishment, is what Charlotte Mason was trying to combat. Another reason for bringing Dickens into the homeschool is that his characters had a strong regard for home. ( agree ) A child need not comprehend ever jot and tittle. We have talked about this before but it's worth stating again :) On a personal note, I love Charles Dickens. Outside of " A Christmas Carol" I had zero exposure to Dickens UNTIL I became a homeschool mom! Homeschool woke my heart up. I began craving literature as started reading Dickens works on my own. I loved David Copperfield as it is Dickens on biography. What did you think of this chapter? :)

I loved this chapter so much, I wrote a complete blog post about it :) Wasn't this a wonderful reading? From beginning to end I was nodding my head in agreement. I loved Karen Andreola's story of allowing her children to watch the "A Midsummer Night's Dream" on video and listening to Mendelssohn's composition. When we offer our children little in the way of entertainment, "shows" like this are delightful! My children are the same way, they enjoy old black and white recreations because I don't offer much in the form of passive entertainment. Notations: "Children at this age are language sensitive" ~ This truth should encourage us to be careful what language is exposed to our children. Good and bad. "Charlotte Mason had high goals for students. Her ideal of three plays a year, including one full-length performance" ~ I also aim for this goal with my older students. My high school students are also studying and performing Julius Caesar this fall. "Beware: Shakespeare didn't point the moral" ~ I love this aspect of Shakespeare in that, my children and I have had wonderful conversations about what is "good or bad" based on characters. I encourage mamas to listen with their students to this free resource of Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare Tomorrow, we will talk about Charles Dickens...

I'm sorry my posts this week have been hit and miss. I have had an extremely busy week getting my eldest children ( Ages 15, 14, 12, 10 ) ready for their school year. I want to also say, as much as Charlotte Mason Kindergarten has grown in the last few weeks ( so much ) I feel like Heather M. and Heather J. ...I am so thankful for you both! You both have encouraged my heart in many ways. I feel like I really know you! So thank you! We have a lot of ladies reading our "postings" here and have emailed saying they have learned so much through our conversations. Thank you! On to Poetry....What did you think of this chapter? Here are the highlights from me: I said "amen" when I read the very first line that says, " These days it seems the only verse the average person is exposed to on a daily basis is a popular jingle or an advertiser's catchy phrase". How true is that?? Children ( and adults) no longer hear poetry for the most part. The parallel between Ancient Rome and our world today were spot on. I was encouraged as I read because I thought, "as homeschool moms we can create our own cultures at home". I especially loved all the references to "The Dead Poet's Society". My older high school children attend a one day per week rigorous classical school ( Charlotte Mason's method 100% prepared them for this ) and I see the professors at this school inviting the student's interest by their own enthusiasm. I liked the tip to ask our children, " I like this poem. Do you?" She mentions the first poems her children committed to memory were those by Robert Louis Stevenson. These are the exact poems we are reading this year in the Enchanted Kindergarten... :) What did you like in this chapter? What stood out to you?