I will love what I do, and I will pray daily for God's grace to help me love those things which I need to love and do not. He will answer my prayer abundantly, in his own way and in his own time. I know this; I have lived this; but that is another story. Loving what I do matters greatly because my children are born persons--brilliant, caring, needing, broken persons with the amazing ability to detect my hypocrisy long before I even know I'm being a hypocrite. Likewise, they also know when I am being a faithful guide, philosopher, and friend. We are ignorant fools if we think this love does not matter. At the beginning of the third and final day of the LER, we heard from a panel of teens educated for most of their schooling with Charlotte Mason's educational philosophies and methods. What a privilege it was to hear them speak. They spoke about things their parents had done well and about things they had not done well. Some spoke about being a part of the Truth, Beauty, and Goodness (The Hive) learning community, and it was in this context I realized how much loving what I do matters--because it matters to our children. One teen shared of learning from other teachers in the community-- "The moms teaching what they really love and what they are good at." This is what mattered to him. And it is what matters to my children and the children in my community. Three years ago, the plate I brought to the feast was pretty empty. I had no love for anything beautiful; I was not good at anything that would even begin to remotely constitute a Charlotte Mason education. But by God's grace, I am not where I was, and as I look to the future, I'm not where I will be. |
By Dawn Rhymer This blog is the third and final part in a series written to journal a few of the things I hope to do as a result of attending the 2017 Living Education Retreat. Here are links to Part I and Part II. I will love what I do--for the children.
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By Dawn Rhymer When: Friday, August 11th, 10 AM - 4 PM
Where: Fox Run Regional Park at the North Oak Meadows Field (see the Park Map on the website) Bring: Drinks and lunch for your family, snacks, folding chairs, blankets, sunscreen, outdoor games Feel free to come and go as you need. We hope to see you there! By Dawn Rhymer This blog is Part II in a series written to journal a few of the things I hope to do as a result of attending the 2017 Living Education Retreat. Part I can be found here. 5. I will learn one new nature-thing a _______.
By Dawn Rhymer Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time Charlotte Mason, School Education (V3) p. 170 These words of Charlotte Mason were before me the whole weekend. I was at the Living Education Retreat (LER), and the quote was printed on a banner placed behind the podium in the main meeting room. Each time we gathered as a group, I was reminded through the soft and gentle echo of the banner, "Live, live, live."
As I drove home, after sweet goodbyes to many friends, I found myself asking the same words the crowd posed to John the Baptist as he began to prepare the way for Christ: "What then shall we do?" I wanted to return, not merely with thoughts and ideas which would be quickly crowded out by the hustle and bustle of a busy home, but rather with a clear grasp of those things which I would do. How would my life, and potentially the life of my family, be changed by the small investment of a weekend? I am going to reflect on each session I attended and choose one thing which I do not want to forget, one thing I can do so that life can be all living. By Karen Canon I am knee-deep in planning for our next school year.
It is a good place to be, for me. I enjoy this part of the process very much. But whether you enjoy it or not so much, whether you are a veteran CM practitioner, or just starting out, it is always refreshing to gather a few new ideas to inspire and encourage. I keep a folder of articles and/or books on hand just for that purpose. As I was reading Marion Berry’s I Buy a School, a few thoughts struck me from her stories of the PNEU school she ran. Miss Berry attended Charlotte Mason’s Teacher’s Training college in Ambleside in the years just following Mason’s death. After college, she did a short stint as a governess before teaching in cottage schools. She then took over Miss Kitching’s Rickmansworth PNEU school and remained there for thirty years. 'It is January 1927 and I’m on the long seven hour train journey to Windermere in a coach reserved for the College…' (p. 21) Her book is difficult to find so I thought I would share a few gleanings that were needful reminders and aids to me and might be of interest to you as you plan out your school year. |
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