Roadtrip!

We have been 'on the road' for 4 weeks now!  Seriously!  All seven us in a seven passenger van traveling halfway across the States and then practically from top to bottom and then back... Sound interesting?!  Let me tell you... it is.  ;)  If you happen to be interested in what our family is up to, I've posted some summary pictures of our time in the States so far over at my other blog:

http://apilgrimsproject.blogspot.com/search/label/USA

Have a peek HERE:

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Living Books, vol.1

Welcome to the April 19, 2011 edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival in which we discuss Living Books... the definition, the value, the delightful use of, the virtues, the... yes, I could go on. and on.  If you've arrived at this carnival and you'd like to read further about what Charlotte wrote about using books, particularly of the living variety breathed into by quickening ideas as opposed to books full of dry bones of fact that become a weariness to the flesh, I've listed a few really great places that I've enjoyed reading lately:

Schoolbooks and How They Make for Education (suggested reading for this carnival)
Chapter 15 School-Books and How They Make for Education
Chapter 16 How to Use School-Books
Chapter 21 Suggestions Toward a Curriculum (For Children under Twelve)
Part II.––School-Books, Books that supply the Sustenance of Ideas


So without further ado, please welcome our participants this time around. You'd think because of the sheer volume of on-topic posts this time around that we're all a bunch of book lovers or something, d'ya think?! Enjoy!

Living Books: 

Nadene presents Loving Living Books, saying, "A post devoted to my youngest child about loving Living Books."

Barb presents "For the Knowledge That is Better Than Silver or Gold" - Our Homeschool Bible Education Plans, saying, "This was a lot of fun to put together....great memories of the best living book there is."

Amber presents In Praise of Living Books.

Eve presents Reading With Boys.

Traci Brooks presents Parents Step to the Side and Let Living Books Become Your Child’s Guide.

Nancy Kelly presents I Have Found a Door.

Penney Douglas presents Great Ideas: Enjoying Life with Living Books.

Cindy West presents Charlotte Mason Series #2 - Living Books.

Elton Brooks presents Living Books-Education For a Lifetime!.

Silvia presents Got Living Books?.

Aylin presents The Vorpal Blade.

Rebekah Johnson presents What are living books?.

Denise presents Hooray for (Math) History « Let's Play Math! she shares how approaching math with living books, getting to know the mathematicians brings new life to math study!

Rachael presents A Living Bookshelf.

Mama Squirrel presents Children shouldn't read dead things. (Living Books).

Fisher Academy presents Books.




Other Interesting Topics:

First a couple of submissions meant for the last carnival edition, Education is a Life...

Mama Squirrel presents There are no guarantees...but it's still worth our time. saying, "Thoughts on this week's passage from Volume 6."

Penney Douglas presents Education is a Life.


Next a little bit of Nature Study Inspiration:

Rosemary presents Nature Study in our (tiny) back yard.


Shirley Ann Vels presents Sunshine on my Shoulders.

Ritsumei presents Baby Cardinal Food posted at Baby Steps.

And last but not least, an art lesson:

Tricia Hodges presents Three Little Chicks: A Pastels Tutorial posted at Hodgepodge, saying, "A quick little pastel tutorial on chicks for you and your peeps :)"

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Wow!  Thank you all once again for your participation!  It has been a joy to spend time with you!  :)
We would love to have you come again next time. Please consider submitting a post in one of the upcoming carnivals (dates and topics can be found here).  Submit your blog post using our carnival submission form.

The next carnival's theme & suggested (optional) reading are:  

Art Appreciation / Picture Study

• Volume 6, pgs 213-218
• Parent's Review article, "On Exhibitions", part one & part two

The deadline for post submissions for this carnival is: 5pm on May 2nd, 2011

*photo credits: old books by logu & library of light by hhsara

Books.

Books.

Books are like doors. Books are friends. Books convey great ideas.

Books. One can never have too many good books.

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The importance of reading the 'right' books...
In my summation, a book must have as a minimum the following qualities to be a 'living book': The child must needs dig for his own information in books, it should not come to him predigested. “What a child digs for is his own possession.” And the sought for information ought to come from an author who cares deeply about his subject and can convey his ideas with apt skill. Then the book must be one that rouses the child's natural interest or grows his sense of the world and his own place in it, or in some way inspires a reverence for all things good.

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Books convey ideas. Reading a book is having a conversation, one great mind to another.

“...the choice of books, which implies the play of various able minds directly on the mind of the child, is a great part of that education which consists in the establishment of relations." 

CM Series, vol 3 p66

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Books are friends. Not only do books fill time and fill a special place, but they actually introduce us to friends from other places, epochs, languages that we would never otherwise have had opportunity to meet.  

"Perhaps the main part of a child's education should be concerned with the great human relationships, relationships of love and service, of authority and obedience, of reverence and pity and neighbourly kindness; relationships to kin and friend and neighbour, to 'cause' and country and kind, to the past and the present. History, literature, archeology, art, languages, whether ancient or modern, travel and tales of travel; all of these are in one way or other the record or the expression of persons; and we who are persons are interested in all persons, for we are all one flesh, we are all of one spirit, and whatever any of us does or suffers is interesting to the rest. If we will approach them with living thought, living books, if we will only awaken in them the sense of personal relation, there are thousands of boys and girls today capable of becoming apostles, saviours, great orientalists who will draw the East and the West together, great archeologists who will make the past alive for us and make us aware in our souls of men who lived thousands of years ago." 

 CM Series, Vol.p81 (read pgs81-83)

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Written in response to suggested reading for the CM blog carnival, Living Books vol.1: P.N.E.U. article, Schoolbooks and How They Make for Education

*photo credit: groble

CM Blog Carnival - Education is a Life

Um... so yeah, I'm almost two weeks late in posting this here... hahahahahah!  and of course I'm just NOW realizing it looks as if there's been no carnival since March 23... a mere month ago!!  oh. my.  seriously, no offense Richele, my lovely! However, to those of you who are on the reminder list for the CM carnival you've already been there done that and are now working on your Living Books post, yes?  Regardless of lateness, today, I'd like to announce the latest edition!  Education is a Life, vol.1 at Richele's Barefoot Voyage


So, have a good read today or as time avails this weekend, and then be working on your post for the next carnival, Living Books!  (deadline is Monday 4/18)  The suggested reading is a lively Parents' Review article Schoolbooks and How They Make for Education by Charlotte Mason, Volume 11, 1900, pgs. 448-464 or your favorite volume of The Original Homeschooling Series.

I'm sure you would quickly tire if I were to list my extensive list of excuses in regard to a serious lack of blog entries lately... you know, totally boring stuff like, traveling from place to interesting place, the seven of us sardined into a minivan for hours every day, cushioned by every thing we need for these two months, meeting lovely new people (except of course you'd thrill to hear about me getting to meet in person someone all of you know and love, which I will absolutely have to blog about when I get a free second), yeah, all that and unpacking, repacking every 24 hours or so and then of course the watching and narrating our family ministry video for the umpteenth time... etc., etc.

I know. It's a dreadfully routine and ordinary life I live.  [smirk]


One day I will actually blog about homeschooling again. 

I hope.

:)

CM Blog Carnival - Education is a Discipline

Friends!
Many of you surely already know that the latest Charlotte Mason blog carnival {Education is a Discipline, vol.1} is up over at Simply Charlotte Mason!  If not, head on over there by clicking here (for some strange reason the blog carnival site seems to be malfunctioning, not displaying the links and widgets properly. Hopefully, they'll get that fixed soon).

I'm so excited, as I'm sure many of you are, to read through all the posts. A special thanks to Sonya for doing us a great favor by hosting this time around! The topic of 'Education is a Discipline' is SO near and dear to my heart!! However, being away at the beach for a week of restful seclusion, I went and got myself so relaxed that I even forgot what day it was!! I realized I hadn't even posted for this edition!  Well, it will be late in coming, but I do plan to post :) 

Do enjoy the carnival and please make sure to add to the conversation by leaving comments on the various posts if you have the time. :) 

The next carnival's theme & suggested (optional) reading are:  

Education is a Life

•  Volume 3, School Education, pgs 152–156
•  Volume 6, A Philosophy of Education, pgs 104–111.

The deadline for post submissions for this carnival is: 5pm on April 4th, 2011
For more info about the carnival and upcoming topics see the CM blog carnival info page.

romeo and juliet

This term with Ambleside Online, we'll be reading Romeo and Juliet in planes, in cars, or wherever we are (add an '+s' if you will, for the sake of the perfect rhyme).

Get your copy online for free here or here.

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Education is an Atmosphere, vol.1

Welcome to the March 8, 2011 edition of the Charlotte Mason Blog carnival!

In this edition, we'll be thinking about and taking a good look at the air we breathe in our homes.

(I know, I know, you can't actually see air. It's just that, well, you'll see...)

Here, this quote says it a lot better than I can:

“'Education is an atmosphere'” what the mind breathes. The air that we breathe is the medium that surrounds us; the atmosphere our spirits breathe is the medium that surrounds them; in short, it is our environment.”

A.T. Schofield, Esq., M.D. (Chairman, Executive Parents' National Educational Union)

So in that way, an educational atmosphere is a lot like air isn't it? It surrounds us, it's mostly intangible and yet it effects our children both inside and out. 

We've had perhaps a record number of submissions this time, so let's go ahead and get right to them.  Do you have your cuppa something ready?  If you're anything like me, it may actually take a couple days to get all the way through, but you know, I rather like it that way, don't you?  :)

(Just a wee note: because of the sheer volume of submissions, I've opted to simply list them more or less in the order they came in, I didn't even have a chance this time to read all the posts ahead, so I'll be enjoying them all right alongside the rest of ye!  Don't forget to leave comments on the various posts, if you have a second!!)

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Nancy presents Plants of Renown (on the reading) and Consider posted at Sage Parnassus
saying, "I think this fits, as Mason's students were preoccupied with the furniture, and that isn't necessarily what makes for good atmosphere!

Nadene presents A Beautiful Home Atmosphere, "Reflecting on what makes a Beautiful Home Atmosphere ..."

Jennifer presents A Little February Check-up and Freshening in the Learning Spaces posted at Wildflowers and Marbles.

Richele presents Under the Golden Apple Tree: Sometimes....

Barb presents It's An Atmosphere - Charlotte Mason Ideas in Our Homeschool

Lanaya presents On Staying at Home.

MamaChi presents Life is not a series of tasks to be accomplished, "A reminder about enjoying life and not letting "doing" become more important than "be-ing""

Shirley Ann presents Education is an Atmosphere - Revisited

Melissa presents Every look of disappointment and tone of disapproval

Blossom presents Learning in any Atmosphere

Sonya presents Do Not Sit Up Late: Three Practical Do Not’s, Part 1

-- I don't know about the rest of you, but how tired I am seriously affects my atmosphere!!  :S --

Kay presents Father and Son | Pelham House saying, "This post illustrates the atmosphere in which our son is educated. A few CM phrases that apply: "It stultifies a child to bring down his world to the child's level" "no artificial element" "The bracing atmosphere of truth and sincerity" "the glow of intellectual life and moral health on the faces" (pumptitude, as I put it :) An atmosphere of respect and that we value him as a whole person."

Michelle presents Our Educational Atmosphere.

Laura presents An Education within Our Atmosphere.

Jodi-Marie presents My Art Full Life: Philosophy of Education Ch. 6 Pt. 1 Education is an Atmosphere saying, "This is my own "narration" of Vol. 6 that I have been working on this year."

Rachael presents Working on an Atmosphere.

Tricia presents Automobiles and Airplanes: An Atmosphere of Learning saying, "Learning provided for us more than I've ever put together on my own as a teacher!"

Laura presents Christian Education is an Atmosphere.

Gina presents Lets Work on the Atmosphere (Education is an Atmosphere).

Erin presents Education is An Atmosphere.

Amber presents What's In Our Atmosphere?.

Dawn presents Creating Home Atmosphere....

Yours Truly :) presents Education is an Atmosphere {part one} and {part two}.



Miscellaneous interesting topics:

Naomi presents Early Blooms and Flower Clocks posted at Living Charlotte Mason in California, saying, "It's really more nature study, but what better atmosphere than the one God created for us!!"

Shirley Ann presents Walking Back Through Time... saying, "After our last living history fieldtrip, we were blessed to be able to visit some more living sites that we have read about in our Island Story! One was quite enlightening!"

Barb presents Nature Loving in February-It's For the Birds saying, "Off topic but I hope readers will enjoy my finds from the Nature Study Review. :)

Blossom presents AO and My Favorite Books (so far) saying, "This is a post on a few of our favorite books that we use with Charlotte Mason education (AO)."

Jamie presents How Effective Are Living Books?

Jennifer in MamaLand presents Ambleside Composer Fun: Free Chopin Printable Mini-Book.

Robin Phillips presents Home School and Pets: How to Use Your Animals in Your Curriculum, Part 1.

Melissa presents Bible Plus Three saying, "When moms allow themselves a respite for refreshment by exploring their own interests and passions...finding a bit of time for herself, she is positively contributing to the atmosphere of her home!".

Amanda presents Harmony Fine Arts Review.

I'm pretty sure the following is a spam post?  But it's actually pretty interesting.  :)

Kevin presents The History of Libraries Through the Ages.

This concludes this edition of the Charlotte Mason blog carnival!  A huge thanks to everyone who submitted a post, and to all of you who read and leave comments... it's the community that's makes it so fun!

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-- click here to see the list of upcoming topics --

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The next carnival will be on March 22nd at Simply Charlotte Mason

(Submit your blog article here using our carnival submission form.)

Our topic is: Education is a Discipline 

Suggested Reading (optional): 

•  Vol.2 pgs 60-68 and 173-177 
•  PR article: Discipline 

**Photo credit: 'today it feels official' and 'rainbow felt mobile'annalea hart

PS. If you submitted a post and it's missing or you were a smidge late (after 5pm Monday) please link to it in the comments... the blog carnival program seems to be malfunctioning and I'm not positive I've got them all. My sincere apologies!

Education is an Atmosphere {part two}

“...we should take into account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him live freely among his proper conditions.”

CM. Vol. 1, pg. 6

Just as earth's atmosphere is made up of a number of gases (mainly two), many elements go into the composition of an educational atmosphere. Many of which are present whether we like it or not. :) An educational atmosphere is composed of both persons and things. Persons include – a personal God (dynamic relationship exemplified by caregivers through regular prayer, natural mention in conversation, decision making, etc), parental example and influence (character, manners, habits), sibling relation and influence, other relationships – arbitrary (neighbors, the checker at the grocery store, playmates at the park, etc) or predetermined (nursing home facilities, extended family members, etc).

photo by: tsparks

We and the circle of people our children regularly come into contact with each compose a portion of our atmosphere so to speak. The various attitudes and habits combining to make up that mixture of air that we and our children breathe.

“We have already considered a group of half physical habits––order, regularity, neatness––which the child imbibes, so to speak, in a way. But this is not all: habits of gentleness, courtesy, kindness, candour, respect for other people, or––habits quite other than these, are inspired by the child as the very atmosphere of his home, the air he lives in and must grow by.”

CM Vol.1 pg.137

People have an incredible influence on the educational atmosphere, especially parents, in how they set the tone for learning, in particular when it comes to interpersonal relationships, but also in regard to expectations and standards of education. Is education a pleasant occupation? Is it satisfactory to put forth a minimum effort? What kind of knowledge is desirable? How do we go about acquiring that knowledge? Is there only one way to do things? How we answer these questions may be an indicator of what kind of atmosphere is present in our homes.

“How shall these indefinite ideas which manifest themselves in appetency be imparted? They are not to be given of set purpose, nor taken at set times. They are held in that thought-environment which surrounds the child as an atmosphere, which he breathes as his breath of life; and this atmosphere in which the child inspires his unconscious ideas of right living emanates from his parents. Every look of gentleness and tone of reverence, every word of kindness and act of help, passes into the thought-environment, the very atmosphere which the child breathes; he does not think of these things, may never think of them, but all his life long they excite that 'vague appetency towards something' out of which most of his actions spring. Oh, wonderful and dreadful presence of the little child in the midst!”

CM vol. 2 pg. 37

photo by: me :)

Many things influence the educational atmosphere, among which are healthy air and food, things of beauty: art, décor, music, nature, etc.; items of interest: maps, pets to play with and observe (aquarium), etc.; tools for observation: microscope, magnifying glass, binoculars, etc.; tools to create with and for expression: musical instruments, quality art supplies, woodcraft tools, sewing things, etc.

“..suppose that all this is included in our notion of 'Education is an atmosphere,' may we not sit at our ease and believe that all is well, and that the whole of education has been accomplished? No; because though we cannot live without air, neither can we live upon air, and children brought up upon 'environment' soon begin to show signs of inanition; they have little or no healthy curiosity, power of attention, or of effort; what is worse, they lose spontaneity and initiative; they expect life to drop into them like drops into a rain-tub, without effort or intention on their part.” 

CM vol.3 pg.150

Atmosphere is vital.

However, atmosphere is not an end in education. It is a part of a three-fold philosophy of education and is simply one of the by-ways to impart a living education. “Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life.”

As a part of the Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival community, I'll be musing over the other two parts of Charlotte Mason's three-fold philosophy in the coming weeks. Feel free to join us!

[read the first part of this post here]

Education is an Atmosphere {part one}

Atmosphere, it's where we live; it's what we breathe. Without atmosphere we would be in utter darkness and cold or blasting light and extreme heat, seeing and feeling nothing or else feeling everything all too intensely, alone, and without air to breathe.

Atmosphere is vital.




photo by: NASA

Our earth's atmosphere has been optimally designed and prepared for life here on earth. God set our sphere spinning in just the right spot, with a specific slant and speed, and precisely the right mixture of gases for us to breathe. And I'm sure that back in the beginning He couldn't have been happier with His work of art.

Not only was He concerned on the grand scale however, as no detail was spared when it came to making the place suitable for us. He made it both vast and beautiful, so incredibly vast in fact, that it'd be impossible to see all the beauty in a lifetime; and all this beauty extends into the most intricate of details. Just how long did it take Him to plan it all? Eons, if He'd needed it, I'm sure. But He simply said the word... and there it all was.

Alas, if only we were able to create with a word the optimal educational 'environment' for our children! Well, now, it is possible we make it harder than it has to be... :) And yet, atmosphere has such an important influence, we ought to give some serious thought to what help we can apply in this area.




photo by: codepoet

First, why the word, 'atmosphere' instead of 'environment'? “We think of fresh air, pure, bracing, tonic,––of the definite act of breathing which must be fully accomplished; and we are incited to do more and mean more in the matter of our children's surroundings if we regard the whole as an atmosphere, than if we accept the more literal 'environment.'” CM, vol.3, pg.149

Education is an Atmosphere. But, what does that mean?

“By the saying, Education is an atmosphere, it is not meant that a child should be isolated in what maybe called a 'child environment,' especially adapted and prepared; but that we should take into account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him live freely among his proper conditions. It stultifies a child to bring down his world to a 'child's' level.” 

CM. Vol. 1, pg. 6

“'Education is an atmosphere'” what the mind breathes. The air that we breathe is the medium that surrounds us; the atmosphere our spirits breathe is the medium that surrounds them; in short, it is our environment.” 

A.T. Schofield, Esq., M.D. (Chairman, Executive Parents' National Educational Union)

How can we create an atmosphere of learning without producing a 'child environment'?
In the next post I'll outline the two main components we can concentrate on improving in our homes.

“...we should take into account the educational value of his natural home atmosphere, both as regards persons and things, and should let him live freely among his proper conditions.”
CM. Vol. 1, pg. 6

[click here to read the next post]

a 12 year old boy's tribute to a CM education

At sixteen days short of turning the big 13, this morning, my most dramatic son said to me, "Mom, did you read that e-mail I sent you? I think you'll laugh." He and his brother who are only 13 months apart have been playing with this online program making movies...
choose the genre, the actors, the setting, choose background music, and then type out the script.  Pretty fun, huh?!

Growing impatient, "Mom, I can't wait for you to read the e-mail, I made it just for you!" Javen sang out in his most winsome tone.
Could I resist? Here's what I found in my inbox that made me laugh out loud:




It's also available HERE.

Einstein: "Hello, my hairy friend. When was the last time you looked at the dictionary?"

Harry: "What's a dictionary?"

Einstein: "Hast thou not heard of the great thing called Education, poor soul?
[begins to swing his hips, adding a most delectable spin...]

I've watched it again and again, and laughed. every. single. time... and I can't help it if I am still a little teary.

fun foto

fond memories of...

happy days.
wide open spaces.

thinking about our life in the jungle.

:)



PS. I know this photo doesn't really exemplify the wide-open nature of life in the jungle, but I have plenty of pictures posted on here that do. I just particularly like this one... you may recognize the background? :)

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: The things we like the most (vol1)

Welcome to the latest edition of the CM blog carnival!  This is an unusual carnival in that instead of having a theme itself, it is the kickoff for a bunch of topics!  Read on for a little more info and then we'll get on with the best part, which of course is the submissions!



The polls have spoken.  It's obvious that as a whole, the majority of us who took the time to vote, love Charlotte Mason!!  Was there ever any doubt?  ;)  Of course not!   The living books and nature study top the list as being very important to us as well art & music and the value of habit training.  The things we love most in theory are the very same areas we need to work on in practice; following through with nature study and habit training!  Also, figuring out how to teach multiple children at varying levels... but what mother doesn't struggle with that, is what I want to know! ;)

With these facts in mind, I've organized a posting schedule from the list of topics. There was an attempt made to intersperse theory with practice and we are all hoping that we'll get a variety of posts in answer to the various topics, yes?  

*(remember that you can still post whatever's on your heart and then choose whether to wait until that carnival comes up, or we can always list it in the current carnival under the miscellaneous)

So, without further ado, the calendar with topics can be viewed HERE ... and you can always check back to the main Charlotte Mason blog carnival info page HERE as well.

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Welcome to the February 22, 2011 edition of the charlotte mason blog carnival!

Our favorite things (volume 1) : Books & Nature Study

BOOKS!

Michelle Smith presents A Life Better Than I Deserve - Reading Aloud . . . the Lesson Reflective
Amber presents Book Review: The Wheel on the School (And a Read Aloud Tip) 
Annette Berlin presents How To Bind A Book, "Writing a story or keeping a journal in your own handmade book is strong motivator for children. Take a look at our 115 bookbinding tutorials and choose the one that best fits your student."

NATURE STUDY!

Barb presents Our Winter Tree Study: Nothing Short of a Miracle, saying, "Our winter tree study...helps us become "intimate with trees"."
Shirley Ann Vels presents A Bit of History - Charlotte Mason Style
Jimmie presents More Bird Resources for Backyard Bird Count, "Printables for bird study"
Amy @ simply necessary presents Field Guides as Living Books, saying, "Can a field guide be considered a living book? Come read and find out! What do you think?"
Amanda presents Homegrown and Beeyoutiful: The Joy of Nature Study

AND EVERYTHING ELSE!! 

Nadene presents What kind of disciples does the mission demand?, "What does the Lord want me to grow in my children - in character, habits and attitude - that will equip them for His service?"
Nancy presents Sphere of Influence She talks about the far spreading influence of CM
Barb presents Building Good Habits in High School - Charlotte Mason Style, CM with older students is something MANY of us are interested in learning more about!
Jay3fer presents Charlotte Mason vs Classical, saying, "This is a long post - so she's made it a 7-page downloadable PDF, discussing CM vs Classical Education in various areas of curriculum."
Robin Phillips presents Home School Writing Kids: Three Techniques For Writing Fiction
Richele presents Math with Charlotte Mason

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So, that concludes our carnival until next time...
Submit your blog article to the next edition!


The next carnival's theme is: Education is an Atmosphere

Suggested (optional) reading: 

• CM series vol.6 pg 94-99  
• PR article, The Atmosphere of Home by M. F. Jerrold

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Oh wait, am I forgetting something?!  Oh yes, we did have a drawing didn't we...
so, I suppose that means we also ought to have a winner!



Congratulations, Eve from Inchworm Chronicles!  Eve is relatively new to the carnival and in her honor we'll be starting the themed carnivals off with her favorite part, 'Education is an atmosphere!" 
Thank you, Eve! 


Thank you all for your comments and your participation. The carnival is a cooperative effort, so thank you for what each one of you adds to the online Charlotte Mason community! I'm looking forward to getting to know many more of you!! 

life in a small apartment

Living in small spaces certainly has advantages. I do find it necessary to remind myself of them regularly, however :) Here's a small attempt to do that...

 We set aside several hands-on project kits from Christmas that are particularly interesting to the kids, knowing that we'd have more 'inside' time than we normally had when we were in the jungle. Though having toys with myriad small parts is not necessarily conducive to small spaces (nor extremely messy ones that involve chipping away at finely packed dust particles that fly and attach themselves to every surface within a three room radius), because of these cool projects, they have grown in their interest and knowledge of several key skill areas!  A living education!  They've both been thrilled with their machine building & excavation kits.


 Living in small spaces necessitates that the kids play cooperatively.  There simply is not enough room in the apartment for each child to play independently.  I've enjoyed watching their creativity.  Even if there are disagreements regularly, I'd prefer that over siblings who will not play together!  :)

 'A place for everything and everything in its place', because if it's not, believe you me, we will certainly trip over it. Our kitchen, like our entire apartment, is very compact, but super serviceable. I give thanks every day thrice over for the blessing of this little space to live in. We get along quite well, and less space means less to keep clean.  Hooray!  And it makes me silly happy just to see the colors, but I'm funny like that. :)


  From the fourth floor, we have a really great view of the park in front of our house, which actually in itself provides lots of viewing entertainment.  We see sunsets longer than everyone else, we see the birds' business from the tops of the trees and we get a good breeze.  Are you getting jealous?! ;)



I've also concentrated on making it a beautiful place to live.  Not necessarily from another person's standpoint, but things that are beautiful to us, almost entirely composed of things we've found outside or in the fruit/vegetable market. well, that and books. nature and books, two of my most favoritest things in all the world. ;) So, living in small spaces is kinda nice after all.

:)

c'mon, it'll just take a second...

Did you vote and comment yet?





Just remember:

• Polls are fun.  you get to click those little check boxes!  who doesn't like marking things off a list?
• You will be helping.  I have to remind my children often that in the end it always makes us happy to help people.
• A cool prize is involved*.  everyone likes the anticipation that they very well might be the winner, right?

*rules: vote and comment.  winner will be announced at the next Charlotte Mason blog carnival February 22nd.  for more information see this post.

CM Blog Carnival - vote & win!

Well, as mentioned in a previous post, it is high time to celebrate!  After all, we are alive!  That's one seriously good thing!  We got through the last couple months and are alive to tell about it.  :)   Okay, I'll admit, it wasn't even that bad, either! 

That and this blog has reached a milestone, 100+ followers! (ahem, not that I've been counting... that'd be google's job)

Basically, I thought it'd just be a good excuse to have a little fun!  You like?

It just so happens that very soon, we'll be trying out some experimental changes with the Charlotte Mason blog carnival.  You may or may not have noticed that the carnival is in need of some rejuvenation lately?  Well, several of us have been chatting and we'd like to breathe some life into it... Go here to read about the changes.

So, are you anxiously wondering when I'm going to come to the point and talk about the whole vote & win thing?  Did I say win?!  prizes?!  On a CM blog?!  No.  Don't worry, we will NOT call it a prize. We'll just call it straight...  It's a bribe. There you have it.  I know, not very respectable.

I'm offering a really cool prize bribe to any of my readers and/or CM blog carnival participants or anyone perhaps just plain interested in participating in the carnival, mostly because it's time to celebrate!  ...well, that and I hope it will convince some of you to take the time to vote and comment regarding the Charlotte Mason blog carnival.  You see, it's not so sneaky.  Is it?

{Does it make it any better that the prize bribe is from simplycharlottemason.com?}

Click here to vote & comment to win.

What's the prize?

 From the SCM website:

Discipleship is more than a curriculum.

If you’re searching for that perfect curriculum to disciple your children, this live workshop will help you take a fresh look at what Biblical discipleship really is. Sonya explains the three facets of Biblical discipleship and how you can weave them into your home life.

How to enter to win:
Click over to this page, give your opinion in the four polls, and then leave a carnival related comment (only comments left on this page will be eligible). Comments left before March 22nd will be entered to win.  :)  Is that fun? 

Oh, and if you've already voted, don't worry, just go back and leave a comment to be entered to win.

weekly nature journal {printable}

Need a little help with nature study?  Sometimes I do.

Here we are back on the coast of Peru, and I'll just say that the coastal region is NOT as beautiful and lusciously inviting as the jungle.

not at all.




Here we are finding that we are no longer naturally drawn outdoors.  Well, that and living in an apartment on the fourth floor behind several sets of locked doors has it's deterring factors as well I suppose.  It's rather difficult to get out!

Oh, and we're supposed to be actually increasing our journal entries this term.

So, to help with this dilemma, I've crafted up some pages that will give my guys some guidelines, freedom to choose the format of their daily journal entries, as well as a list of ideas for what to write/sketch every day.

Yes, I said EVERY day.

Right. That hasn't happened yet, mind you. :)

I want us to get into the habit, at least for a time, of taking note of the glories we see outdoors, keeping our eyes open to the beautifully simple gifts of every day.




These journaling pages are very utilitarian and will never actually take the place of our official nature journals (occasionally handcrafted, always highly valuable books that are meant to be more contemplative and artistic).

Have a look, download the pages, but keep in mind, it may be more helpful to use them to come up with ideas for making something all your own  :)




I've included a eensy-weensy bit of instruction, a list of places to begin to look for nature inspiration, and several different formats for pages. Some have more lines for writing, others have more room for the sketches. I've let my boys choose, and they both chose the same format I would have chosen (the first).

Download here:

There are two different files with exactly the same content, just different orientation, choose whichever suits best...
{landscape} and {portrait}

oh. vivaldi.

"oh. vivaldi."

"We've listened to that music every day for the last 23 days straight, Mom."

"Even though I don't play violin or guitar, I'm certain I could perform every piece in the entire orchestra since we've listened to it so many times... it's actually become the background music to my dreams."

:)

...just a few of the things you might hear around our house.

listy...

Even if I am at my favorite place to connect to the internet (look here to see where I am ;) and even if I don't mind one tiny bit spending as much time here as my husband's schedule will allow, still...
This is only my second opportunity to connect in the last 3 WEEKS!  oh my.  how time does fly!

I have seriously limited time to post so this brief but boring efficient list of bullet points will have to suffice...

• The Charlotte Mason blog carnival will be posted tomorrow over at Dana's blog, so if you have written a Charlotte Mason related post in the last two weeks, please go submit it now... HERE.

• As of last week, we are a little more settled in this temporary compact home of ours.  It did take some time as we arrived and had a pretty much full schedule from day one + the apartment was DIRTY from being unoccupied for 6 months in surely one of the dirtiest zones on this continent. (a couple of small windows had been left open for ventilation... yes, those rooms were covered with a sticky black film. mmm. yum.) 

• This blog now has over 100 followers - YAY! -  at which point sometime back I'd secretly decided I would definitely be having a blog party + giveaway!  This will happen just as soon as I can manage it.  Stay tuned for further details.

• I'm looking forward to being able to post again regularly real soon, but I am thoroughly enjoying the simplicity of life afforded by no internet/no phone in the house!!  

• My friend Jeanne is quite literally wading her way through a national disaster... pray for her?

• Another friend of mine, Jimmie, is hosting a HOTM online homeschool conference ticket giveaway!  Not only that, but she's one of the SPEAKERS this time around!  Aren't we lucky?!

And that is all, as I have a couple other blogs to update as well!  phew!  I'm STILL too busy!!  :)

2 or 3 noteworthy items...

Okay, so it's not because of a lack of interest that I've NEVER yet mentioned anything about this other blog I contribute for... let's just say I've been busy.  Shoot! I'm always busy... I'm still busy!  Matter of fact, have I mentioned that I'm moving?! Tomorrow!?

Yep. Tomorrow is the big day.

The house is empty except for the washing machine, fridge, stove and mattresses which we'll load up tomorrow morning... and then we. are. outta. here! oh my. and why on earth am I writing a blog post?! um, yeah... I'm a little bit insane, um, how shall we say... ahem, silly?  ;)


But of course, I had to remind you all of two VERY important things! 
...of course.




#1... now, as I alluded to before (and if you get your magnifying glass out you might be able to read the blog button directly above, but then again maybe you mayn't, so if you have issues with your eyesight you're welcome to scroll back up to the top of the post ;), there's this really cool blog called Educating Mother of which I'm proud to be a part! Have you been there?  Well, it's really not to be missed and you really ought to visit.  We'd be so glad to have you.  So, please do stop by and let us know you came...

#2... but not less important, the very first Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival of 2011 is coming up this coming Tuesday and I have a feeling it's going to be a whopper since we've had a break over the holidays. So, if you have not submitted your post for that, do it NOW. I'll even make it really easy for you, you can do your stuff right here.  The next edition will be at Jamie's and we're all excited about that, right?  :)

Submit your post HERE.

#3...Now, in case you're wondering, or even if you're not, I'll share with you our plans... 
either way, here you are:

Tonight as soon as I'm done here, Micah will probably be back from dropping off a bookshelf at its new home for the next 8 months. I will be finishing up last touches around here (namely, finishing sewing buttons on pants, repairing seams, and putting on patches - there must be a word for all that... I cannot for the life of me think straight enough right now to come up with it, and my thesaurus is packed ;) I'll be doing that 'til the wee hours when I fall like a dead woman onto my mattress. Tomorrow, we'll leave Tarapoto (the jungle) and drive 9 hours to Chachapoyas (featuring really cool little known ruins that we've not yet seen, on the way to Trujillo). We'll be there for 3 days and have a little fun and a lotta learning, or vice versa. ;)  From there, on Saturday, we'll drive another 12 hours to Trujillo (on the coast of Peru), where we'll attempt to cram our seven selves into a snug little apartment for the next two months. You may be able to sense my excitement about that. 
But, thrilled or not, you will hear from me once we get there... :)
SO. I really should go. now.

Happy evening to all, and to all a good-night! 

Composer: Antonio Vivaldi (Baroque)

Okay, so this term's already started for us, and since it's outta control with moving and all, this post will be like no other.  (Normally term 2 is Jan-Mar, ours will just be stretched out).  I'm just going to point out some of the links that I'm looking at.  Sorry, I don't have time to find all the music online as free downloads this time.  I have a bunch of CDs (thanks Mother and Daddy!) that are pretty much gonna cover for us this term.  I am SO happy that I planned this term so far ahead!!  Note that Vivaldi's Gloria is a Christmas-y song!  So get a head start by listening to that one now!  ;)  One somewhat completely unrelated thing I'd like to say is, that I LOVE THIS album that has *note* only ONE Vivaldi piece on it:

{LOVE, love, LOVE, love it.}

Here are the AO selections for this term 
(each song is linked, but I haven't listened to all the selections,
nor do I know if they are complete... the links are perfect for a little sampler):

2010-2011 TERM 2 Antonio Vivaldi (1730) (Baroque)
    Gloria (choral work);
    The Four Seasons (complete at wikipedia);
    Trio Sonata in C major, RV.82; (at youtube in parts; one, two and three)
    plus 3 concerti - maybe one for violin, one for guitar (for example: Trio Sonata in C Major, RV 82: III. Allegro)and one for a woodwind instrument such as oboe or bassoon.

We have this:

And would like to read this:
(if only we had a local library!!! perhaps you don't know how spoiled you really are?!)

 {Comes with Teacher Guide, CD and bonus CD... }



We have planned to listen to:
Week 13-14: Gloria (choral work)
Week 14-15: The Four Seasons
Week 16-17: Trio Sonata in C major, RV.82
Week 18-19: Concert for woodwind     <-- we are here :)
Week 20-21: Concert for violin
Week 22-23: Concert for guitar