Starting a Commonplace

I've always been a journal keeper of some type. Reading about the three pillars of keeping in Laurie Bestvater's book The Living Page has given me a good prod in the direction of regular keeping in a commonplace. It is a simple and yet effective approach to raising my ordinary thoughts out of the pedestrian monotony they frequently plod into.

Last year I read a book whose words left a deep mark on my thinking. I picked up The Martyrs of the Coliseum in a book sale and read the first two pages and was drawn right in. The consequence was that I could not put it down. All other books were neglected. I became a Roman citizen among the frenzied masses yearning for truth and becoming completely enamored by the heroic living and dying of these holy martyrs. These were real stories. Real people. Real miracles. Every chapter an inspiring story in itself. These were words - I decided - that could transform their audience, if they were allowed to do their job. By the end I was plotting how I would get the Author's other work, Victims of the Mamertine which was available but at an inordinate price. The stories are thoroughly researched and beautifully written in narrative form. An older student would gain much from both books in their history studies. Much to my delight Christmas deposited it on my pile and after finishing other reads I now have started it on my vacation here in New Zealand. From my commonplace...

The Church grew like a night flower that loves the shade; but the seed was sown; it casts roots secretly, like the acorn concealed under the surface; the soil, enriched by the remains of the saints and moistened by their blood, willingly received it.

The Victims of the Mamertine by Rev. A. J. O'Reilly

Linking up with Celeste and Keeping Company.

Education is a life...

We almost didn't make it. Between fevers, colds, stomach viruses and a snow storm, somehow I left on time with two out of the three boys. The rest of the family followed two days later. After two days of settling in, school began gently. Mixing up our days with school in the morning and adventures in the afternoon, our New Zealand vacation is taking good form.

Now that language arts, history, literature and math are well underway, I'm excited to begin nature science in such refreshing setting! Unfortunately in my haste to get away on time in the midst of illness my packing faltered and I left behind a few essentials. I don't have my nature journal and we left behind all our watercolors. Pencil drawings and plenty of photos will have to suffice until we get home. I also left behind all my careful lesson plans based on John Muir Laws Nature Journal. Sigh.... Fortunately I have one lesson typed out.

It is so beautiful here. I will have much to share on the flora and fauna here. It is a joy to be near the ocean again. The fresh salty air does me much good.

Linking with Celeste at Joyous Lessons

A New Year

Blogging is not my greatest strength that is for sure! Almost a year has passed since I last wrote! However, I must say, not for lack of desire. 2016 was a year of miracles. I struggled tremendously, yet gained so much. Although I went through my hardest pregnancy yet, the miracle of John Christopher far surpasses the price I paid. Everyday I have overflowing joy. All my boys are miracles and my heart is full.

This is my first time home educating my two older boys with a baby. We have seen tremendous progress in many areas. My oldest has taken off with his reading and art. More and more I am able to hand off to him his readings and his narrations have improved greatly. My middle boy is discovering the delights of decoding words as he recognizes the phonograms that he is learning. The books themselves are edifying and life giving. It is deeply satisfying to be immersed in this living education.

However, music appreciation, picture study, nature journaling (and all my plans utilizing the Handbook of Nature Study), Latin, and keeping a timeline reflecting our history readings have suffered. Catechism lessons have slowed down significantly. Nature walks have altogether disappeared with the onset of bitter temperatures.

On the days that I was well during my pregnancy, we managed to escape to a few favorite places. Dig in the dirt. Examine rocks. Learn new handicrafts. Try new art mediums. Find new authors. I found energy and strength to prepare our space for school in early July so we could start ahead of our usual schedule in order to enjoy the arrival of John Christopher in September. It was a year defined by necessary learning and growing that I had to accept and even embrace. It was also marked by great joy which flowed together with the struggle. It was a year ordained by God.

I'm putting together a plan to bring back the essentials that have slid. Our new baby only really sleeps well at home. It is restrictive to be sure but I know that we will find ways around it. I brought back our morning basket by making it happen at breakfast time no matter what. We do our memory work, catechism, and Handbook of Nature Study lessons. I'll gradually add composer and art study among other books to change things up each day.

Independent learning is a must now. Samuel (year 3 of Ambleside Online) goes on to do his math and piano practice following morning basket. The plan has necessarily involved him doing more reading for narrations. I've noticed that this has produced better narrations. I've also made deliberate plans for him to carve at least once a week. He has done two relief carvings, whittled some sticks into arrows, and is now working on two birds.

We are heading to New Zealand in two weeks to visit my family for 6.5 weeks. I will be taking great advantage of our proximity to the seashore. I even found a copy of the Burgess Seashore Book in beautiful condition! I've made some basic lesson plans utilizing the new nature journaling book by John Muir Laws. The beauty and riches essential to this life of education are growing and I'm energized and excited!

Linking to Keeping Company for February. Thank you Celeste!

Summer Learning

We have had a wonderful summer and now find ourselves three weeks into school. This is the closest I've been to living out Charlotte Mason's philosophy in education and the outcome is tremendous. In many ways I too am being reeducated and my mind is waking up to the wonder of truth and beauty like never before. I touched on it briefly in my youth, but now it is like a flood everyday. Everything in my life I now see is continual grace from God and at times my soul seems to be swimming, hidden in His love. Yet how blind I remain.

In our education at home, we've embraced both verbal and drawn narrations in our study of Ancient Egypt and Catechism. I've practiced my artwork and our 2nd grader is quite pleased with his own work. Our youngest has made great strides learning his phonograms and making small but steady progress with stroke work.

We have come to love our nature journals and are discovering so much more outside now that we are more aware of our surroundings than ever before.

I've spent a great deal of time reading too. Rereading For The Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macauley and starting When Children Love to Learn edited by Elaine Cooper. I've also added Leisure the Basis of Culture by Josef Pieper and The Gift of Fire by Richard Mitchell. Starting to make regular entries in my commonplace is the next step! There are many books I plan to revisit over the remainder of the year in addition to the novels that I am reading myself and to the boys. That will have to be saved for another post.