What Do Charlotte Mason and "Naked and Blue" Have to Do With Each Other?

How many of us have desired the results of a Charlotte Mason Education: the creativity, expressiveness, deep thinking, and so much more that comes from an immersion in living literature and history, only to have it fall to the wayside under the pressure to complete curriculum, achieve tangible, measurable results, and meet (other's and our own) expectations of achievement?

How do we set our priorities for the educational pursuits of each day? Which tasks are 'musts', which skills have to be in place (and when)?

For some interesting - and entertaining - ponderings on these thoughts, hop over to the ChildLight USA blog, where Sandy Rusby Bell has written a post entitled "Naked and Blue at My Back Door".

New Nature Study Post at ChildLight USA

Deborah and HollyAnne Dobbins have a new post on the ChildLight USA blog, addressing common Questions and Answers about Nature Study, particularly when it is done as a formal Nature Study class incorporating dry brush watercolour once a month or so.

Adventures in Colorado Springs (oops...Odyssey)

When Dear Man and I were first married, one of our simple pleasures was listening to Focus on the Family's Adventures in Odyssey radio stories after we had finished eating our dinner. A few moments of relaxing together.

Our children have since developed an enjoyment of the stories, too, listening to them in the vehicle as we drive to visit Grandma and Grandpa, go on holidays, and so on.

One summer we borrowed an almost complete collection of audio tapes from friends of ours to keep us going on the 60 hour (return) drive to Saskatchewan for a family reunion. For some strange reason, the portable tape player we were using (we didn't have a built-in unit, only a radio) had a lot of static when it played the tapes, unless My Girl held the antenna just so. Part way through the trip, the antenna snapped off, and there was great sadness, as we weren't sure we could handle listening to the stories with all the extra, very irritating static. Then My Girl discovered that if she used her hand to hold the base where the antenna used to be attached, there was no more static. (Does that mean that she was working as an antenna?) Her poor little 8 year old body was slightly twisted in its seat to maintain the position, but she was determined that we would hear those stories! As it happened, with the Odyssey tapes and several other selections from the library, it wasn't until the last few hours of the drive home that we started listening to repeats! (And yes, we did have 'no tape times', too.)

This past summer, we went to Colorado for the biannual Renovare Covenant Retreat. That was a terrific experience, but today my focus is on something else. Any of you who are familiar with Focus on the Family probably already know that their headquarters is in Colorado Spring, Colorado, and that they have a Welcome Centre on their campus which includes a bookstore (!!!); an interactive Kids Corner, modeled after "Whit's End" and the town of Odyssey, with a Discovery Emporium, puppet stage and costumes, reading area, KYDS' Radio Studio; and a soda shop.

We had anticipated a visit to the campus, a chance for the children to see where the stories are created, and maybe pick up a couple of good deals in the bookstore. What we hadn't anticipated was spending over 4 hours there, exploring, munching (a very reasonably priced) lunch at the soda shop, and simply enjoying ourselves.

Here are the highlights from that day for the children:

A 3-storey twisty slide from above the top level of the Visitor's Centre into the lower level where the children's area was. There were height restrictions on the slide, so a very sorrowful Brown-Eyed Boy was only allowed to watch the others pop out the bottom, and My Man had to console himself with observing also, being 1" too tall!

A "Narnia" room, with information about the recording of Focus's Radio Dramas of the Chronicles of Narnia and a life sized wardrobe you can walk through into Narnia where there is a full wall mural of that wonderful country.

Posing with The Ones I Love outside the Wardrobe

The KYDS radio station. We were able to sign up for an actual recording time, were given scripts to prepare, and then recorded our own "Adventure's in Odyssey - KYDS Radio" episode. My Girl and Dear Man had speaking parts, Little Man and I did Foley, which is in-studio sound effects like horse gallop sounds made from coconut halves, running an electric pencil sharpener, etc. Brown-Eyed Boy had the difficult job of being silent (although he did make a couple of guest sounds). The studio technicians mixed our recording with pre-recorded portions, and half an hour later we were able to take home our very own CD with that episode, featuring our own talent!!!

Dear Man and Little Man, preparing their scripts

My Girl, in the recording studio

Dear Man, in the recording studio - very out of character, but playing along for our sakes!

We were thoroughly impressed with Focus's hospitality, their care for the people who come to visit, who support, who call and ask for advice, etc. This day will live for a long time in our family memories.

Reality: A Link

Many times, our plans are wonderful, but reality is quite different. We need to learn to let the children, our students, guide some of their own learning, to build on their own relations. Barb, at Handbook of Nature Study, has a post that reflects this idea, particularly as it relates to Nature Study. May I encourage you to hop over and read it?

What Do You Need?

I sit at the dining table, officiating at Dictation with My Girl, as the little boys play in the basement playroom.

A little voice drifts up the stairs, a touch of the imperative in the tone:
"Mom, can you come here?"

I sigh (yes, I admit it) and return the call:
"What do you need?" (Did I manage to keep the impatience out of my voice?)

"You."

A simple reply. It melts my heart. How could anyone say no to that request? He doesn't need something. He needs someone. He needs ME.

So I go.

A Rule-of-Thumb for Family Read-Alouds

I love this quote from Jim Trelease's The Read-Aloud Handbook:

Here's a little rule of thumb for parents: If you can't squeeze your kids into the same size underwear, don't try to squeeze them into the same size book! In doing that, you end up watering down the reading material to accommodate the lowest common denominator - the four-year-old - and boring the nine-year-old. The solution is to read to them individually, especially if there is more than three years' difference in their ages...

A father in New Jersey, after hearing me suggest reading to children separately, interjected, "Excuse me, but doesn't that take longer?" Yes, it does, sir. Parenting is not supposed to be a time-saving experience. Parenting is time-consuming, time-investing - but not time-saving.

Jim Trelease, The Read-Aloud Handbook, p. 40.

My children are well-spaced in age: the oldest is six years ahead of the second, who is, in turn, three years ahead of the third. That means that their read-aloud selections can't always be combined. Much subject area reading we do together, with My Girl and Little Man reading from and listening to the same books on Ancient Egypt, for example. But then My Girl gets deeper content from books that are selected to challenge her more, both in their reading level and in the maturity level at which they address the subject. When I'm reading those more advanced books with My Girl, Little Man and Brown-Eyed Boy are usually off doing their own thing - usually playing 'dog and owner' or 'knights' in the basement. Sometimes they're still in the room with us, playing, colouring, etc., but these books are not the ones they are required to sit for and narrate. (And no, Brown-Eyed Boy doesn't do any narrations at all yet, and won't for a couple more years.)

This past month has seen a milestone change for us: Little Man and Brown-Eyed Boy no longer have the same bed-time. So, after Little Man is in his pj's, teeth brushed, clothes put away, and so on, he comes down to the living room while Dear Man finishes tucking in Brown-Eyed Boy. Then Little Man, My Girl and I curl up on the couch together and read until it's time for Little Man to head up for bed. We started this new routine with a book that I hoped would appeal to both children, although on very different levels: The Hobbit. At first I had planned to read it just with My Girl, thinking that it might be too difficult for the younger child, but a dear friend suggested that I try it with him, and, I'm now thankful to say, I took that advice. Both children love this story! I find I have to be very careful about where we stop the reading for the night, so as to avoid the scary parts being left hanging, but so far it has worked very well. (Once or twice we've had to do a little bit of reading at lunch to get through the intense scene and set it up for a good place to stop at bed-time - that's been an effective strategy.)

Two nights ago we had a late evening, so bed-time reading was put aside for the night. As I kissed Little Man good-night, he said to me, "I'm sad that we didn't get to hear The Hobbit tonight." "I know," I replied. "I'm really enjoying reading it with you, and I miss it too when we don't do it." "I wish it would go on forever. I love that story. I don't want it to end!" His face was alight with pleasure, even at the thought of the story!

So, in this instance I'm not following Jim Trelease's rule of thumb, but it seems to be working anyway. I know that there will be many read-alouds that we can't combine this way, but for now, I'm going to enjoy this shared experience.

That touches on the 'read-aloud' part of the quotation from Jim Trelease, but I hope to give a lot more thought and attention to the second paragraph - the 'parenting' part. Then again, maybe that's too big for me to tackle.

Fields of Home

Twenty-two years have passed since Dear Man has called these Fields home; still they draw him. Spring planting, harvest time; they call him to return, to breathe air scented with dark soil or cut hay. Farm is in his blood, yet it is not his vocation.

The Day of Thanks saw him return, an observer of the age old process of releasing the fruits of labour from the Land. Change has come since his time on the farm, equipment has grown in tandem with the crops, a new generation has passed their childhood here. Now the Ones I Love try on this rural cloak, wrapping eager bodies in green and gold.

Fascination with the Land is ever in us. It pulls us to the Creator, immersing us in a multi-sensory experience:

see . . .

hear . . .

touch . . .

smell . . .

One last look at evening's sky. A Day of Thanks. Full. Complete.

Links from ChildLight USA

• Education is Formation, Not Information - a ChildLight USA blog post by Naomi Heidorn
• Teaching Nature Study - Listen online to the 2007 ChildLight USA Charlotte Mason Educational Conference lecutre given by Deborah Dobbins and Holly Ann Dobbins. This link will bring you to the ChildLight USA website, where this lecture is being featured at the top of the page. Click on the "Listen Now" button.