Ladies,

 

I am glad to finally share with you the reading list for this year’s Charlotte Mason Meetings.

 

Back in June, when we last met, the general consensus for the book choice was that we all wanted to try something from Simply Charlotte Mason.  In particular, one or two of her free e-books.

 

Jacki and I sat down today and looked over many options and decided on Education is… and A Thinking Love.  Both are quite quick reads and so we thought that it might be most interesting to read through each of them over the course of 3-5 meetings.  Please find further descriptions of these books at http://simplycharlottemason.com/books/#CMHowTo. 

 

In addition to this, we usually like to try to look at both practical and philosophical issues and so we decided that while the books will help us to delve into the philosophical side that perhaps we would simply look at the practical by choosing 8 subjects to focus on and that we would ask to draw on all of your expertise.

 

That means that, this year, we are proposing to challenge all of you that if you have a pet subject that you can share from your expertise.  Please share secrets of how you keep the learning exciting, how you have used Charlotte Mason’s methods to tackle the subject or what your favourite resources are.  If you are willing to do this then we would love for your to steer part of the evening’s discussion.

 

As such we have made the following schedule of readings and topics.

 

September 19 Education is… An Atmosphere, overview of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy

October 24 Education is… A Discipline, nature study by Jacki

November 28 Education is… A Life, math by Cori

January 9 A Thinking Love Chapters 1-4, subject TBA

February 13 A Thinking Love Chapters 5-8, subject TBA

March 20 A Thinking Love Chapters 9-11, subject TBA

April 24 A Thinking Love Chapters 12-14, subject TBA

June 5 A Thinking Love Chapters 15-17, subject TBA

 

Other subjects to look at…  (Obviously we won’t cover them all.)

Bible

Science

Geography

History

Language Arts

Arts (Fine Art, Music, Dance, etc.)

Foreign Language

Handicrafts

Physical Education

…

 

Are you willing to share with us for a few minutes (to an hour) one evening?  Please let me know and I’d be glad to slot you in for one of the meetings.

 

Finally, as we prepare to get into these books, since they are free e-books, we have several options for acquiring the readings:

1)      you can download and print the book yourself from Simply Charlotte Mason at the link above;

2)      you can download and read the book on your ereader or other device from the link above; or

3)      I can have my printer make several print copies for those of us who like a hard copy. 

 

If you are interested in getting a printed copy of these books…

Please let me know ASAP.  I have asked my printer to create these books for us but will need to give him firm numbers soon so that he can have them ready for us by the first meeting.  If you choose to order a print copy, please note that I have asked him to keep the price down, preferably under $5 for each book.  Also, please note that I will be passing these books on for the price of printing; I am not making money on these books.

As always, all home educating parents are welcome to these meetings whether you come for one or for all of the meetings, and whether you choose to participate in the readings or not.  We do ask that only babes in arms attend though.  Meetings are always on Thursdays from 7:30-9:30 at my home in Bradford.

 

Please let me know if you plan to attend the first meeting and I can send address information and answer any questions that you may have.  It also helps me to anticipate how many people to expect.

 

I look forward to hosting many of you in my home again this school year for our special time of refreshment and encouragement and learning!

 

Blessings,

Cori

Summer is almost gone

So here we are, after a less than stellar summer for weather. We only had a few weeks of using the pool sadly, due to the cooler than usual temperatures, and for most of that time, two of the girls were out of province. And here comes September, and we start buckling down preparing for school. I have somewhat scheduled the dates for the CHEN support meetings. If you have any other ideas you would like to see, let me know.

September 9 or 23rd, which depends on whether or not we can do our family holiday
October 28, a couples evening, with a speaker about peacemaking, a skill we all need help with I suspect
November 25th, which I am hoping to have a speaker from ARPA, to speak on Christianity and politics.
December 9 or 25, hoping for a Family Christmas Square Dance
January 13 or 20, 2014
February 24, 2014
April 14, 2014, Annual Used Curriculum Sale
May TBA, hoping for a Family Potluck

Cori has arranged dates for the Charlotte Mason Support Group. They are not doing a book this year, but rather topics and use articles available to all on the internet from what I understand:
September 19
October 24
November 28
January 9
February 13
March 20
April 24 or May 1 depending on when OCHEC conference is
June 5

Here are some conference dates you might like to also put on your calendar as well:

Kitchner - KWCHEA - Saturday, April 5, 2014, 8-5, Rockway Mennonite Collegiate
Hamilton - OCHEC -May 2-3, 2014??
Barrie - Parents Conference, May 31, 2014, 8:30-3:30
Toronto used curriculum June 7th or 8th, 2014?
Brantford Used Curriculum Sale, June 13, 2014?

I hope you have all been somewhat rested to resume our tasks. Remember that you cannot do it in your own strength, but we can do it if we rely on the Lord. He is the one who has given you these children into your care for a time, and He will equip you and give you all you need carry out the task.