A nature walk in the morning of school time om St. Francis' Memorial

...just to slow down and get some energy burned off before classes and quieter moments. Soaking up the surprises God's creatures created during the twilight hours as we slept a cozy sleep and enjoying the joy in each of our treasures as flowers were picked, airplane gliding was shown down the hill, and big siblings carried little siblings. All His for us to enjoy. Make me a channel of your peace. St Francis, pray for us that we too may be worthy of the promises of Christ....

St. Francis of Assisi: "a boy who conquered the hearts of beasts because his own heart had been conquered by Divine Love." -taken from Francis Woke Up Early

New school year 2017-1018

We love these days. We just started back at official lessons two weeks ago, although learning lessons are always year-round here. Everyone loves school, ready to begin a new year, see new books, do their work. What a gift laboring is; growing and learning is a part of life and I am so glad that we can do this together.

Life. Atmosphere.Discipline.

 Education


School is much more than learned "information." It is growing virtues in one's heart while growing in knowledge about many, many things of Life. The other day, Madge was working in Phonics when she said, "Caleb, Maa-Maa can hold you." There he went to her lap, a place that he knows well: a place of comfort and reassurance.

Two worlds combined

...and we are so glad they are.
Life and education: atmosphere, discipline, life.

(Maddy reading her history and Penny getting ready to sleep during our lessons this morning.)

Charlotte emphasized treating each child as a person, not as a container into which you dump information. She believed that all children should receive a broad education, which she likened to spreading a feast of great ideas before them. Charlotte encouraged parents to have an active role in teaching and training their children in academics, fine arts, faith, citizenship, and habits of character.
You can summarize Charlotte’s approach to education in three words. Charlotte believed that “Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life.” By “atmosphere,” Charlotte spoke of the environment our children grow up in. She knew that the ideas that rule our lives, as parents, will have a profound impact on our children. “The child breathes the atmosphere emanating from his parents; that of the ideas which rule their own lives” (Vol. 2, p. 247).
By “discipline,” Charlotte emphasized the importance of training our children in good habits—habits that will serve them well as they grow. In fact, she likened good habits to railroad tracks that parents lay down and upon which the child may travel with ease into his adult life. Good habits are a powerful influence on our children and must play an important part in their education. “It rests with [the parent] to consider well the tracks over which the child should travel with profit and pleasure” (Vol. 1, p. 109).
By “life,” Charlotte wanted to remind us that “all the thought we offer to our children shall be living thought; no mere dry summaries of facts will do” (Vol. 2, p. 277). And the methods that Charlotte used presented each subject’s material as living ideas. Here is where the reading, writing, and arithmetic come in, along with all the other school subjects. But notice two important points: first, they are presented as living thoughts; and second, those school subjects occupy only one-third of the big picture of education.
All three components of Charlotte’s three-pronged approach are vital in the education of our children. Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life. (Taken from: http://simplycharlottemason.com/basics/started/cmedphil/).

Home

Thanks to a sweet big sister, who is a sweet big helper (washing dishes in the kitchen after showers tonight) while Pita helped set the table (telling Mommy to not "look" in the kitchen while she was preparing the dinner table), Little Caleb chose an apron and got ready to scrub dishes with soap, as Madge taught. Just one more moment that makes me grateful for these times at home with our 4 sweet little people, who make me laugh and grow in many ways. They are such sincere teachers; what would our lives be without each gift? As home and school meld, how much we appreciate the classroom of LiFe, here in the heart of our home.

                                                  
                                   

Planting. Painting. Living Spring.

This past weekend we had a wonderful time getting our seeds in the ground for a summer garden. We planted a variety of flowers, marigolds, being one of them, while Daddy read aloud the story of the Marigold from Mary's Flowers. We also planted beans and tomatoes, and zinnias! The girls continue to love reading Zinnia's Garden. One new book that we just read a couple of days ago, before using watercolors to illustrate what was held in our art memory box, was Mortimer's First Garden. It was a great little book: one that will go on our garden book list! We loved how it talked about patience and how sometimes waiting for some miracles from God ask us to be patient. A good read! Before getting bitten by too many mosquitoes, we managed to get almost all of our seeds planted, bikes ridden on the patio, swings swung in, and moments shared together watching the earthworms churn our soil for a healthy garden to come! Another Sunday to be treasured in our family memory box!