"In our pursuit of the very best education for our children - what mother doesn't want that?! - we read the CM series, books, articles, blogs, attend meetings, conferences, follow CMers on Facebook, see their perfect lives on Instagram, their creations on Pinterest, Join groups, forums - to learn it all, do it all, keep up on all."Yep, the whole thing is that good. You can read the rest here.
"Can we ever get anywhere near the tower of glory? It seems to have no end. Will we ever be good enough? have time enough? be mom enough?"
"i have unfortunately heard a lot of christian women say things like, 'i don’t really need to rigorously pursue my education, i don’t really need to be sharp and astute, a great integrator of themes. because i’m…' (and here’s my most hated phrase in the English language) '...because I’m going to just be a mom.'
well, what i do is, i just put words on a page for people to read.
that’s my art form.
what you do? well, you know, you raise immortal souls...
you grow them inside yourself, magically.
you feed them from yourself.
you are the great storyteller for these humans.
these little bleeding things.
i sit there and type. that’s my art.
and YOU’re the one who interprets all of reality for this one year old. You take all of it and you condense, you creatively condense and you give. You say, here! and it’s this type of art for them... and then they’re five and then they’re six, and you’re the MOM.
do you know what dad does? he keeps the lights on.
imagine. i think if you took the most psychotic, crazy, NY, wacko, installation artist, they wouldn’t have the guts to do what ‘just a mom’ does. or if i said okay, here’s the plan. i think i can get a federal grant. i’m going to give you some actual children… you create a life story. how’s this? maybe eighteen years... create a childhood. there quick, don’t just do your weird thing where you held your naked body to a block of ice. that’s their normal installation pieces. how ‘bout eighteen years in you do 3 meals a day. you shove stuff in their face and you create a life. you create a childhood. you create the first 18 years of a life story.
find me the crazy artist willing to take that on.
absolutely not.
the whole ‘just a mom thing’ is one of the most inverted lies around.
it’s like, i need an education because i write books...
because we admire the abstract. i condense thoughts into little black symbols on pulp, trees, which can burn and rot and go away.
YOU have little humans who will always be. forever. somewhere.
they are the beginnings of forever stories.
so none of that.
you must awaken to this glory and you must attempt to improve at noticing, receiving, processing, integrating, condensing and then giving.
...that is the process of ultimate artistry."
The {Nature Study Monday} link up is for ANY nature study-ish blog post written at any time during the current month. Which means, when you submit your link, it will show up in every. single. {NSM} post. during the whole month! Oh, and be not confused, feel free to link up on any day, be it Monday or not!
"So much for the right books; the right use of them is another matter. The children must enjoy the book. The ideas it holds must each make that sudden, delightful impact upon their minds, must cause that intellectual stir, which mark the inception of an idea. "
CM, volume 3, page 378
"She explained to Molly that she loved the book about the animals and about the man who spends a lot of time in the woods watching all of them, 'And do you know what else? There are NO pictures in the book! None at all! But it doesn't even matter. Do you know why? Because the writer writes so well that I can see the pictures in my head. The book doesn't even need any pictures. And oh, I hope that someday I can write as well as he does.'"
"For spines (books which I read aloud to all the kids to give us an overview and make sure there are no huge gaps) we continue to go through H.E. Marshall’s This Country of Ours and Helene Guerber’s Story of the Great Republic."
"I couldn’t possibly count the number of times I have told somebody, “The goal is not to get the children through the books, it’s to get the books through the children.”
Sometimes I wish I listened to myself better. Am I the only one who forgets to take my own advice?"
The {Nature Study Monday} link up is for ANY nature study-ish blog post written at any time during the current month. Which means, when you submit your link, it will show up in every. single. {NSM} post. during the whole month! Oh, and be not confused, feel free to link up on any day, be it Monday or not!
"We value feasts, not just food feasts, but feasts of the mind."
"I could spend all night blogging about changed lives. About the girl who never went outside and who now adores going on what she dubbed "the dangerous and wet trail of death" on Friday. About the boy who got upset when asked to read aloud who acted in a play in Charleston last month. About the girl whose third grade teacher made her feel stupid and who now knows how intelligent she really is."
Do you host a CM related blog link up?
Please e-mail information to:
charlottemasonblogs (at) gmail (dot) com
"In Home Education Mason says "The real use of naturalists' books at this stage is to give the child delightful glimpses into the world of wonders he lives in, to reveal the sorts of things to be seen by curious eyes, and fill him with desire to make discoveries for himself.” (Home Education, pg 64)Does that pique your interest? Do you think she means simply using books INSTEAD of going outside in winter? I guess you won't really know unless you check it out. I'm pretty sure you WILL be encouaraged.
Maybe what we need, in order to improve our motivation toward winter nature study, is to read some of what was written by the great naturalists who have gone [into the snow and cold elements] before us.""
The {Nature Study Monday} link up is for ANY nature study-ish blog post written at any time during the current month. Which means, when you submit your link, it will show up in every. single. {NSM} post. during the whole month! Oh, and be not confused, feel free to link up on any day, be it Monday or not!
Based on a preliminary poll on facebook, we will continue the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival in 2015!
The first edition of the year will be posted on January 14th.
Please submit your posts now.ALL posts in relation to a Charlotte Mason education are welcome.
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