Getting Started

I've been wanting to create a blog about my adventures in educating my children and our life as a homeschooling family, but have been waiting for the right title to come to mind. (A good blog title is half the battle, right?) Charlotte Mason is my education guru. I find myself writing reams of notes and copying quote after quote while reading her Original Homeschooling Series. The quote above comes from Volume 3: School Education that I just finished reading. On the same page she writes "...he [the child] cannot think without an abundant, varied, and regular supply of the material of knowledge...which is as the air, and the food, and the exercise, the whole life of the mind of man" (241). She concludes by saying "of all the joyous motives of the school life, the love of knowledge is the only abiding one" (246).

Love of knowledge. This is what prompted my husband and I to pursue home education for our children. We wanted them to maintain their natural curiosity and joy for life. Those things are so often drilled out of children by our modern educational system by practices that focus on test scores and conformity over actual knowledge acquisition. Education is something that happens within and cannot be forced from without. "Knowledge, on the other hand, that is, the product of the vital action of the mind on the material presented to is, is power; as it implies an increase of intellectual aptitude in new directions and an always new point of departure" (224). Knowledge is gained and the mind grows.

So we don't test (in the traditional sense). We provide the children with an abundant variety of materials from literature, poetry, Shakespeare, to science and nature study and handicrafts along with an abundance of free time (and encouragement) to explore their own interests. We are by no means perfect and neither are our children. We strive for authenticity, love, and the pursuit of knowledge each day. As CM says, "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life." This blog will be about each of those things and more. Stay tuned.

Book Review: The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer

My dear friend, Linda, reminds me now and again to turn to a good book when life becomes too much. Charlotte Mason, my home education philosopher of choice, also espouses the importance of reading for mothers - part of what she calls "mother culture." Books are there to inspire, to educate, to uplift and encourage! As a very domestic person who loves being at home, cooking, sewing, taking care of my family and a lifelong lover of art and creativity, I should have read this book, The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Ideas for Creating Beauty in Everyday Life, years ago. Its title kept popping up on my blog feeds over the course of a year, or so:

• Higher Up and Further - (No longer active, but the archives are full of wisdom.)
• High Desert Home - (Another one who, also, sadly is no longer blogging, but making life beautiful elsewhere, no doubt.)
• Pleasant View Schoolhouse - (Has a signed copy of one of her books.)
• Flourishing Mother - (A lovely blog that inspires me each time.)

So I jotted it down on my to-be-read list and eventually bought a signed copy on eBay. Isn't the illustration lovely? Then the poor book languished (as so many do) on my to-be-read pile. I just have to wait for the right time before I pick up a book.  That is definitely what happened with this one.

If I had picked up this book when I first heard about it or even when I first purchased it, I would have skimmed the first chapter and put it back on the shelf. Until recently, I bristled at the thought of God as my Creator, the Creator. I am the creator. I wrote this. I made this. I...I...I....me...me...me. Give credit to some invisible other? Nonsense! But, oh, how the heart changes. Now, though I still have doubts, I can read about the Creator and be comforted and encouraged. I am a creative being made by a creative force (God) in His spiritual image.

And that, my friends, is how Edith Schaeffer begins this lovely book. If you are turned off by the religious overtones, I recommend that you read it anyway. It is a delightful book for anyone wanting to make their (home) life more beautiful by (re)discovering their talents. It is all about intentional living. The areas of "hidden art" include music; painting, sketching, scultping; interior decoration; gardens and gardening; flower arrangments; food; writing - prose and poetry; drama; creative recreation; clothing; integration; and environment. She encourages her readers to explore each of these areas in simple ways such as playing that instrument you learned as a child, writing letters to friends, reading aloud, planting flowers in a sunny place and going for long walks. She makes all of these things sound like not just good ideas but necessities for living a full and rich life!

The Hidden Art of Homemaking is a book that I could turn to often for encouragement. Each page has a quote or phrase that jumps out at me to contemplate.  Reading this book is like reading poetry. It puts me in a higher frame of mind. It encourages me to see the world as a more beautiful place. She writes:

I feel strongly that this modern fear of home becoming non-existent can be countered only if those of us who want to be sure our little spot is really a home take very practical measures to be sure that it is just that, and not a collection of furniture sitting in some sort of enclosure being protected from wind and storm.

As I read through the chapters I have been inspired to begin making small changes in our home. I bought a lovely set of candlesticks at the thrift store and some tapered candles. I try to make time to set a lovely table for everyday meals with the candles and placemats. I've stopped waiting to have a home of our own to make our interior more pleasing and have begun cleaning out and redecorating the children's rooms. I am trying to be more creative on a regular basis. (Writing this blog is helping!) I've been thinking more about why I do things and how to make my personal environment (my attitude and appearance) closer to my true self.

Despite my efforts, I still have a long way to go. I can start by putting my spiritual life (my relationship with God) first with daily prayer and meditation. Second, spend more time clearing and cleaning my physical environment with regular housework. Third, focus more on my relationships by being more mindful of the needs of others and responding with love on a daily (hourly) basis to all. Finally, utilize my time wisely in creative and productive ways and not waste it with unnecessary computer time and idleness. (Though idleness is not all bad. Sometimes one needs to spend time in "wise passiveness," as Wordsworth's writes in his poem "Expostulation and Reply".) Most of all I need to imprint this verse on my brain:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians 4:8 (New International Version) 

To my children, on Mother's Day

I've been a bad Mommy this week. No amount of dark chocolate could get me through the day without lashing out at my poor children. It was mostly hormonal, but my short-temper is a character flaw that I really, REALLY, need to work on. (Seriously, Holy Spirit, if you are reading this, I need help!) So often I get caught up in the small details of the days that I forget to just enjoy the children, the who and how they are right now. Many people are writing and reflecting about their mothers today. I don't think I can without crying a lot, so instead I will write and reflect about my children and cry a little.

Let's start with the boy. At six years, he's a wonderful child. He is full of energy and curiosity. He is the one who must figure out how everything works. He is the one who strikes up conversations with strangers in the line at Chick-fil-A to tell them about his lost teeth or the cool thing he found in the ditch. He's the one who wants to be a scientist or inventor or robot builder.
He's the one who likes to be the first at everything: getting up in the morning, running home, playing on the computer. He's the one who giggles. He's the one who wants to sit right next to you while watching a movie. He is most like his father in his wiry hair and distractibility. He is most like me in his smile and stubborn independence.

Then there is the toddler. She is almost two and at that perfect age where she is still a cuddly baby at times, but is learning and exploring so quickly you can hardly keep up! She loves babies. She loves singing and dancing. She loves being outside and going for walks. She can be very quiet and is often found sitting on the couch or her little chair perusing a book. Her favorite foods are bananas and yogurt, though not together. Her vocabulary is booming lately. She's making sentences, can say her name and repeats just about everything she hears, for good or bad. She is most like her father in her cheerfulness and sweet puppy-dog face. Of all the children, I think she is most like me.


Finally, there is the older daughter. She is nearly ten and is blossoming into a young lady before my very eyes. She has been addicted to the computer since a very young age. She has a lively imagination and likes creating and playing role-playing games (RPGs). She draws and doodles all the time. She doesn't think much about boys, except her brother, who is her constant companion and playmate. She loves animals and reading. She has read almost every book in the Warriors series a couple of times each. She has a secret club with her best friend, Lily. She is messy and tall and loud and not nearly as brave as she imagines she is. She is most like her father in her boisterous laughter and her addiction to electronic gadgets. She is most like me in her moodiness and love of reading.
 

Thank you, children, for filling my days so that my life will always be full. Thank you for your joyful noise so that I may relish in the silence as you sleep. Thank you for your angry words so that your hugs, kisses and little kindnesses are all the more sweet. Thank you for the unmade beds and the dirty clothes and the hungry stomachs so that I may serve you. Thank you for your questions so that I may think and be wise. Thank you for being so that I may be a mother, your mother. I thank you and love you...always.

A Poem for this first day of Spring

photo by Verago

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,

Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine

And twinkle on the milky way,

They stretched in never-ending line

Along the margin of a bay:

Ten thousand saw I at a glance,

Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they

Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:

A poet could not but be gay,

In such a jocund company:

I gazed---and gazed---but little thought

What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

William Wordsworth