Grace to Build Takeaways

The first weekend of this month, I attended a new homeschool retreat in my area, "Grace to Build."  This is no ordinary conference, but a gathering of parents who specifically use the Charlotte Mason method in teaching.  Every seminar was packed with jargon and precepts well-known to "CM'ers," as we call ourselves.  I  was well-submerged in CM bliss, and left overflowing.  With all the information, there are two particular ideas that I felt led to apply immediately.

One was highlighted by Sonya Shafer, a fellow homeschool mom and authority in the CM community.  Any CM'er is familiar with Sonya and her wide array of books, videos, and talks on methods and habit training.  I enjoyed a morning in a group in which Sonya was the instructor, and we adults got to be students under the CM method.  We covered natural history, arithmetic, ancient history, singing, repetition, writing, and Spanish, all in under three hours.  

How refreshing to be the pupil, reading, narrating, and learning a rich variety of living ideas!  Surprisingly, after such robust instruction, my brain was not exhausted, but rather invigorated.  Sonya had not pounded dry, meaningless facts into our minds, but had exposed us to full-bodied ideas that we consumed eagerly.  My takeaway from the exercise was that my own teaching needed to be varied concerning the order in which I presented the subjects.  The meaningful instruction was there, but I couldn't wait for Monday so I could change the topics around.

For example, as I wrote in another post, I used to do all the "table" work in one sitting.  We covered reading and spelling back to back, and would do our science and history (in which I read aloud) together, too.  Sonya pointed out that when we sequence the lessons differently, then the brain's activity is more varied, thus enabling full attention.  Now, our order looks more like this: Bible verse, penmanship, history, math, reading/phonics, science, Spanish (oral), poetry.  I have noticed more enthusiasm from all of us, and brains that are not as tired.

The other takeaway that stood out for me came from a talk that I attended given by Cheri Struble, mother of nine.  She called it "Mothers as Persons," and if anyone is qualified to speak to the idea of mothers acknowledging our own personhood, it is she (I so wanted to say "her," but just can't do it in a post about CM!).  This is not about the "me time" so many modern moms complain they never get.  It also is not going to Starbucks or shopping alone for an hour.  Those things aren't bad, but Cheri's discussion centered on giving ourselves brain food, ideas for our own minds.

As someone who has valiantly been engaged in the battle of the mind, I was all ears.  There are no "steps" to this, nor a "how-to."  When mothers, especially those who are with children all day, do not respect our own personhood, Cheri says we end up empty, moving along through our tasks like robots, eventually stuck in a pit.  We need not be convinced that a "feast of ideas" is essential for our kids, yet are we pursuing this for ourselves?  Our minds thrive on meaty, living ideas, and it is imperative that we moms make small stops throughout the day to read a poem or a few paragraphs, take a few laps around the yard, and allow ourselves to "go out to play," as Charlotte wisely advised.

The main idea is: READ!  Not an entire book a week, but a few pages.  CM'ers talk about always having "something going" in the way of books, and Cheri was specific about this.  She recommends three books at a time: a novel, a moderately easy (medium-hard) one, and a "stiff," or difficult one.  Cheri herself has been reading Les Miserables for three years now, and is committed to it as long as it takes.  That's one thing I love about the CM method: it's a marathon, not a sprint; we are about quality, not quantity.  If half a page is all one can manage, then it's enough.  Our goal is not to plow through a work, having no idea what we just read or why we bothered with it.  We are after ideas, slowly savoring each sentence, even requiring ourselves as moms to narrate what we read.  There is immense freedom in treating books this way, allowing ourselves to enjoy them rather than having pressure to finish by a certain date.  We can see reading in a whole new light.

Some CM'ers have as many as nine or ten books going at a time.  The three that I am currently reading are:

Novel (easy): Little Women by Louisa May Alcott.  I only classify it as "easy" because it is my third time through it, and each time is not only more simple, but more delightful.  If you never read this classic, allow yourself the indulgence of time with the dear March sisters and their adoring mother, Marmee.

Moderately Easy: The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis.  If you have avoided this book because the main characters are demons, fear not.  Again, as someone familiar with the enemy's tactics, this book does not scare me, but rather serves to further expose his vile trickery and lies.  As in all his works, Lewis does not disappoint, displaying his usual genius and exposure of truth.  What causes Screwtape to fall into the "medium-hard" category is that the reader must become accustomed to the wording.  Because Screwtape, speaks in the first person, his "good" is actually evil, while "evil" is God's will; the "Enemy" is God, and "our father" is Satan.  This is a must for everyone, Christ-follower or not.

Difficult: Ourselves by Charlotte Mason, herself!  This book is actually two in one, and number four in a six-volume set of Charlotte's published essays.  A true CM'er must obviously spend time with Charlotte's writings, but I believe that they hold appeal for those who use other methods, too.  Although interesting, the material is about pedagogy in general, and Mason's rich words and references often cause the reader to reread sentences several times, even looking up the meaning of her colorful vocabulary.  In order to ingest Charlotte's ideas, I can only handle a few pages at a time; she herself required her students to read Ourselves, only two pages per week!  Charlotte wrote this work to provide students with an insight into human behavior, and to give them an idea of possibilities within themselves for good and evil.  

I also often refer to my favorite "go-to" besides the Bible: The Essential Works of Charles Spurgeon, ed. by Daniel Partner.  This volume of over a thousand pages is crammed with Spurgeon sermons, books, and even his autobiography.  Sometimes just a paragraph is enough to give me mind-food on which to chew for a whole day.

Within our homeschool, my girls and I have several books going as well:
Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, the Abeka version designed for children.  Although Charlotte stayed away from "versions" of original works, I do not always adhere to the same principle (don't tell other CM'ers!). 

The Burgess Bird Book for Children by Thornton Burgess.  I recommend anything at all by this delightful author, who makes all animals real, alive, and fun for children and adults.  We read a chapter at a time, and have a corresponding Pinterest board with a photo and information about each bird.

Pilgrim Stories by Margaret Pumphrey.  In my humble opinion, this must be read by anyone who celebrates Thanksgiving!  We read it twice a week, about ten pages at a time, and usually paste a picture from it in notebooks, including copywork with a corresponding sentence.

Little Women, already mentioned, which means I am reading it for the fourth time as I read it a third time!  I am about halfway through in my personal reading, but the girls and I read only six or seven pages at a time.  So far, they are as enchanted as I am, and we have decided which characters we each represent.  Can you guess who they are??

Finally, in the evenings, my husband and I each have two separate books going with each girl, and alternate who reads to whom before bed, in addition to nighttime Bible reading.  I am enjoying a different book from the Nancy Drew series with each daughter.  Never having read these in childhood, I am completely sold on them as an adult.  The challenging vocabulary and engaging plots add to our solid diet of idea-food.

As rich as the retreat was, it has been easy to incorporate some simple principles and habits into our school and my life as a mom.  I am grateful to God for adding to the soundness of my mind with these ideas, and I believe all adults can form the habit of reading snippets during a busy day.