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.

I have been working through dates for the fall and trying to make sure that we have planned the most important dates first.  I have added any significant dates that I could find below so that we can work around the public school schedule (as I know that many of you follow that schedule) as well as holidays and conferences.  If I don’t hear from you then I will assume that I haven’t planned meetings for all of your children’s birthdays or your 15^th wedding anniversary when you had wanted to have perfect attendance this year.

Starting to (yikes!) look forward to the fall.

Blessings,

Cori

Charlotte Mason Support Group Dates 2012-2013

September 20

(5-6 weeks)

November 1

(5-6 weeks)

December 6

(5 weeks)

January 10

(6 weeks)

February 21 (curriculum chapter – last-ish chapter)

(6 weeks)

April 4

(5 weeks)

May 9

(5 weeks)

June 13

School and Conference Dates

First day of School – September 4, 2012

Christmas Holidays – December 24, 2012 – January 4, 2013

March Break – March 11-15, 2013

Good Friday – March 29, 2013

Easter Monday – April 1, 2013

Kitchener – KWCHEA – April 6, 2013, 8-5 @Rockway Mennonite Collegiate

Ottawa – RVHEA – (April 13, 2013?, 8-5) @

Hamilton – OCHEC – May 3-4, 2013 @ Redeemer

Barrie – May 25, 2013 – 8:30-3:30 @ BFMC

Toronto – (June 1 or 8, 2013?)

Brantford – (June 7 or 14, 2013?)

Last Day of School – June 27, 2013

Maple Tree Publications

www.mapletreepublications.ca

mapletreepublications@sympatico.ca

Dear Homeschooled Teen (14-18) 

 “If you want to change the world, focus on leaders. If you want to change leaders, focus on them while they're young.” Alan Nelson, Founder, KidLead.

The Calling & Opportunity

This is an invitation for Christian teen leaders (14-18), particularly homeschooled young men, but also young ladies, to really develop their organizational leadership skills this summer by taking advantage of a very unique and effective leadership development program called LeadWell. We believe that young people, homeschoolers in particular, are very important and have a huge part to play in God’s plan for the future of Canada, the Church, and the Kingdom of God. In fact, you are the future, and a big part of the present too. This is about your future and the future of your children – you are the Joshua generation. We must equip you to rebuild Christian civilization in every sphere, in every area. We need Christian cultural leaders - entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, engineers, movie makers, writers, musicians, architects, dancers, lawyers, physicians, farmers, butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers who are not only Christian in these callings, but actually make these callings Christian!   So, let’s cut to the chase. I am writing to you young men and women to tell you that the world is in a mess and it’s your job to change it, beginning with your own family, friends, church, and local community. Young men! It is your job to lead your families, lead in the church, lead in the culture, and lead the nation!  Young ladies! It is your job to help your future husbands do this!  If you don’t do it, nobody will.    

The Offer

Now, just as some people are gifted and have aptitudes for athletics, or music, or art, some of you have been gifted in the area of organizational leadership.  While all Christians are commanded to lead personally, through Godly character, conduct, and speech, some Christians in particular have been gifted with and have an aptitude towards leading others in a group or team environment.  For our purposes, we define leadership as the process by which people accomplish together, what they could not as individuals. Organizational leaders are those who spur on this process.

If you believe you are one of those people with organizational leadership aptitude, able to influence and mobilize others, we invite you to consider whether you qualify for our summer day camp for teens called LeadWell, August 13-17, in Brantford, Ontario.  This is a pilot camp being run for the first time in Canada!  We are looking for enthusiastic young leaders, 14-18, who would like to build their leadership skills through an extensive leadership development program that is rooted in Biblical principles and modeled after corporate leadership training. This will not be a series of lectures on how to lead – it is experiential learning which gives you the opportunity to practice leading and getting immediate feedback from experienced, certified trainers and coaches.  LeadWell is not a teen program emphasizing leadership, but rather a leadership program targeting leaders when they are still moldable. Most leaders do not begin formal leadership training or gain experience until after college, between the ages of 25-35. Imagine what it would be like for you as a next gen leader, the Joshua Generation, to start your adult life with 10-20 years of leadership experience already.  

If you believe this might be a fit to you, I invite you to please email me at lvaivada@rogers.com for three attachments I can send to you via email: 1) the full invitation which outlines more details about the importance of leadership skills, the LeadWell program this August, and how to apply; 2) the attached LeadYoung brochure; 3) an article on LeadWell by Dr. Alan Nelson.

NOTE: I will be on vacation from June 18 to July 1 with limited access to email.  If you could during this period email instead Cynthia Bultje at cbultje@explornet.com requesting the attachments, she will do this on my behalf while I am away. 

Looking forward to hearing from you and hopefully seeing some of you at the camp. 

God bless

Mr. and Mrs. Vaivada
Newmarket, Ontario

CHEN Curriculum Sale!

Come on out Monday evening to our curriculum sale. If you have stuff to unload put a price on it and bring it out. If you are looking for anything, come out and see if someone else needs to unload it. Now is a good time since we are getting closer to the OCHEC Conference, where you can buy it new if you cannot find it used.

Monday, April 2, 2012, 7pm
Newmarket Gospel Hall, 736 Davis Drive, Newmarket.

I hope to see you there. Cynthia

OCHEC Conference Coming!

As you may be aware, the public education system has been under intense pressure to conform to sinful practices.  A provincial organization, P.E.A.C.E., has shown how the education system has changed in the last years, and the current pressures it is under to relabel what the Bible calls sinful to be normal, and even celebrated.

As Christians, our goal is to raise our children to be God-fearing champions of Christ.  A careful reading of scripture indicates that this can be normative, but it seems to be a problem in our society with all its pressures.  A look at statistics also shows it is possible.

 - 94% of adult children that have been home educated agree with the statement that they maintain the faith of their parents according to a US study (NHERI study).  A Canadian study confirms this.

 - 88% of churched children that have left home and gone to post secondary education have quit attending church within 2 years of leaving home. (Southern Baptist Study)

We encourage you to explore the option of educating your child within the family God has given you .  The reward is the primary relationships for your children will be with you as the parents.  This family closeness will help your child to excel in academics and, more importantly, point them to their relationship with God as they see you hold fast to God in all the circumstances of life. 

To equip parents for this option, OCHEC has planned a home education conference for April 27 & 28.  We offer a reduced rate of $25/couple if you have never homeschooled or been to our convention before.  Come see what resources are available from home school vendors and listen to speakers that will encourage you in your adventure of raising champions for Christ.

Please forward this email to your pastor to encourage other members of your congregation to explore this alternative.

A bulletin announcement is available here.

A bulletin insert is available here.                          

Teen Outings

These are the dates to put on your callendars for the upcoming teen social. Details to be provided closer to each event.

Feb 11 Outdoor Skate @ Ricmondhill skate track, timmies after.

March 10 "Hang out" @ McLaughlins

April 14 Bowling

May 26 Sports and games

June 9 final event TBD.