My Charlotte Mason Journey and Other Thoughts

A year ago when a cat decided to choose our garden pump box to birth her litter, we had no idea how it would change our life!

We ended up adopting Cassie!

She had another litter, in my pantry, this time.  All four little squirmies were darling but we decided 5 cats in the house were just TOO much!  We made arrangements to donate the four kittens once they were old enough to be weaned.

When the time came, weeping, lamentation and fervent promises to be responsible pet owners caused our hardened parent hearts to relent…long story short, we have two kittens, along with Cassie!  Brandon claimed Trigger and Ria, Oliver.  (Hey, three is better than five, and honestly, how cruel did you think we could be?!)

We had Cassie undergo a planned parenthood regime and get updated with her shots.  This would be her last litter.

Two went for adoption and two stayed. They too got their shots and yup, no posterity prospects for them either!   Cassie came home from the doctor and went nuts looking for the kittens, filling us with a good amount of guilt but then she settled with the two.

The children have proved faithful.  Both Adam and I are still in a state of mild shock.  They faithfully take care of the litter box and make sure the cats are indoors before dark.  We are all terribly attached to them now.  Sometimes we crack up just watching them play!

Here are a few pictures of these adorable peskies caught in the act of pure, but irresistibly forgivable naughtiness!

Two of my favorites shots…no need for words!

Since the Geography program for the year looked so amazing, namely Mapping the World by Heart, it seemed rather selfish to not share it with Ria and Brandon’s friends.  Ria and Brandon thoroughly enjoyed having classmates other than themselves and it was wonderful to watch the children soak in so much information.

What a beautiful world is our earth, so varied and vivid and large!  We covered the North American continent and Central America. ( We hope to gradually traverse the world)! That children can immerse themselves in an atlas and actually find it interesting, that they can hear the name of a foreign country, a river, a mountain range, a city, and immediately place it correctly on a map, not just on paper but in their minds, has been fascinating.  Understanding physical features, building play dough look-a likes and drawing real bays and gulfs from maps, gave us a hands-on feel instead of distant-black-and-white(may I add, boring) text-book geographical diagrams.

At the end of the class, the children formed teams and each presented one area we had studied.  The presentations were clear and articulate. It was obvious that they were eager to share what they had learned. They compiled their presentations by themselves, showing a lot of creativity and intelligence.  I only helped tweak their presentations ever so slightly.  To watch them present so confidently, so competently, the knowledge they had gained was incredibly rewarding.  The teeny, tiny glitches and omissions only made their presentations that much more endearing!  ( Thanks to Ria for splicing and editing the videos, and thanks to Lii, for uploading them since my internet couldn’t handle the job!!) Next time we hope the video quality will be better and clearer!

Pereira Team – Canada

Shew Team- USA

Bundela Team – Mexico and Central America

Down the road I hope to have a more in depth, concentrated, Indian geography class, but a world view and a sense of , “Yes, I live in India but the earth at large is my home” seemed to come to all of us so naturally.

I must say they have been a patient class, putting up with their teacher when she would spontaneously beak into song at irresistible geographical trigger points.  ‘Way down yonder on the Chattahoochee’  just had to drawled out when we looked closely at Florida; and Harry Belafonte’s ‘Day-O’ simply HAD to be sung when we got to Jamaica!  You can only imagine the range they had to put up with in New Orleans and Nashville! Poor things!

Ages ranged from 9 -13 but everyone did the best to their ability.  They worked congenially with a sense of camaraderie rather than competition.  I thoroughly enjoyed the class dynamic and I think so did they.  It was refreshing to learn all together.  I’m grateful to the parents and their beautiful children for letting this class happen. I am sending them all a big thank-you with this post! Last but by no means least, my Ambleside Schools International mentors, whose guidance made this class an actuality and  one of ease and enjoyment, I extend my deepest thanks.

George Friedrich Handel, expat German,  self made Briton, is, one of my favorite composers so I was glad to find him allotted for our composer study.

Naturally, Handel is synonymous with his renowned Messiah Oratorio and his Water-Music composition but it has been so fascinating to study his other works, including his major operas and oratorios.

This is how we conducted Music Appreciation/ Composer Study.  We would usually read a little about Handel; his life, his story, his works and then we would listen.  We didn’t have to understand all the music and all the words but we were awed at the orchestra, the brilliance of the composition, the depth of the voices that sounded out those notes!

Whenever we had Nature Study art work or written narrations, we listened to Handel’s music.  Ambleside had a wonderful selection available that we could listen to while we were doing artist study, sometimes while we ate breakfast, at recess, occasionally while  doing math worksheets or while undertaking craft work. Some mornings they cheerfully awoke to the melodies beckoning them into the day!  The miracle was they were beginning to identify the pieces and distinguish Handel’s style and music from the other composers we know.

The other day Brandon was humming a tune.  “What’s that you’re humming?” I asked, thinking it sounded like one of Bach’s pastoral pieces.  “It’s Let Me Lament, Mom.” He said seriously and continued to hum his way down the stairs.  I had to smile! The opera Rinaldo had found it’s mark!  Here was my all-boy frogs, snails and puppy dog tails child connecting with a 1711 classical composition!  Bill St. Cyr says that children don’t need to be exposed to the contemporary, that will happen on it’s own.  He says children can become attached to a higher aesthetic and be open to cultivate tastes that are not the shallow norm and that this is an important aspect of education.

Last week I caught Ria and Brandon with my i-pod trying to sing with gusto and belt out the HAH- lelujah’s with the choir!  I don’t know very many 13 and 10- year olds with a genuine appreciation for classical music.  It made me so very happy.  It brought back precious memories of my own childhood.  I can still feel the cool floor as my  sister and I lay on our stomachs, inspecting every detail of my father’s LP record cover, while Handel’s strains and choral voices flowed and echoed through our home; filling us with wonder and longing, purifying the atmosphere and soaking into our very senses!  I am so thrilled that my children can have that too.

Ambleside Schools International provided me with a great playlist and I also I had a few albums of my own.   Youtube has been a wonderful provision and a  quick low-down on the major composers and their compositions can be found here as well.

Most times we think children need to have only chipmunk voices and cutesy songs and rhymes.  That they can be elevated to appreciate the finer arts and depths of the classical is surprisingly well within their grasp, and is a joy they should not be deprived of but rather encouraged to possess.

Life is made up of seasons and right now, for our household, this is one very busy spring!

Once I embarked with Ambleside International’s homeschooling mentoring program, it seemed like my days filled up!  Just when I thought I was busy, things got even busier!

It wasn’t just school; it was home education coinciding with a number of new happenings in our family.  For one, we have started a little coffee shop!  Adam has always been quite the coffee connoisseur and often toyed with the idea of having a little  cafe; and well, it was now or never!  A combination of necessity and pleasure, our very simple, small-time entrepreneur venture has cranked up our lives and schedules quite a bit!  After 16 years of working from home, Adam is pretty much gone from early in the morning until night, six days a week.  That’s been a change!  In order to make sure he gets time with the children, Adam has them take turns helping him in the coffee shop.  The children wait for Saturdays! They love hanging with their Dad and will not trade it for anything!  At least I get to be with him after they go to bed!

Then, fortunately, quite by accident, my mother found out that she has a cardiac condition.  This was very unexpected.  Her physical two years ago revealed her heart to be in excellent condition.  Rather than go the conventional route of angiogram, stent and bypass, she opted to come live with us for three months while undergoing Chelation treatment.  She has also radically modified her diet to help her body heal and is taking time to rest – something she has pretty much denied herself for most of her life.

If I could list people who most inspire me, then my parents would, without question, top that list.  Exceptional!  Their humility, their passion for God, their intense love for people, their genuine, automatic response to think of others first and their natural positivity never fail to guide my reality.

I realize that this is a very precious time in my life.  For the first time, ever, I have my mother to myself.  Not for a fleeting week or ten days, but for a longer span of time.  When life can roll in its everyday activity, when I can serve my mother in ways I normally cannot. She, of course, is always looking for ways to help me out and I have to almost force her to not! I never did have this opportunity with my father and I am determined to not squander a second with this amazing lady, who just happens to be my mother!  I want her to know that she is my priority, that the other aspects of my life can take a backseat because I will not always have this privilege.

It is such a joy to talk, pray, laugh, read together – whether it is the Bible, a piece of literature, or a news article.  She is always happy! As respected as she is and despite her “position”, she never draws attention to herself or expects any kind of ceremony.  She is so wise and yet totally unaware of her importance and is always seeking to learn and serve more.  Which is why, her very sparing correction and thoughtful instruction is highly valued by me.

No one’s opinion matters more than God’s and so she lives in total freedom.  The importance of family, the sacredness of all we put our hand to, and yet, that transcendental aspect of the presence of God, the world at large, of others, of taking the time to see another’s point of view, sympathize with someone else’s problems, rather than focus on my own…understand a situation and usher in peace instead of complication; all of this has brought a sense of liberty, a removal from the trite and unnecessary.  I feel like I have grown up ever so slightly.  Although God knows, (to quote Frost), I have “miles to go before I sleep.”

It was really Adam’s idea to have her come and live with us and I am so grateful that my normally grandparent-bereft children can get to enjoy her this way!  Ria and Brandon, of course, love having their Ammama!  We have had some deep discussions and family story telling times.  She has also taken the time to garden (a HUGE passion for her) paint flowers (pretty impressive, as you can see!), learn the names of the birds that haunt our yard, relax and not push herself to the limit as she was living.  Being able to sit with her and enjoy a cup of chai, is one of my biggest blessings right now.

It has taken me a while to get back to blogging because honestly, most days, I don’t even have the time or energy to turn the lap top on!  But the wonderful thing about having more on one’s plate is that it usually spurs efficiency.  It has been an adjustment for all of us but it has provided opportunity to grow and be more effective – definitely this is true of myself.  Learning to prioritize and not waste time is always a learning curve and this time around I’m trying to make the most of it!

As far as the school front goes, it has been awesome!  I have learned so much and hope to share some of that as I continue to  steady my pace and thrive in the rhythm of this new season!  Thanks for being gracious enough to still be around despite the long pause!

“Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and diligence.” 

Abigail Adams in a letter to John Quincy Adams

Most of my close friends, with whom I have shared most of what I’ve learned, know that I have often longed to learn more, to be trained by the more experienced Charlotte Mason-ers. I came close to attending some sessions by Catherine Levison but it didn’t happen and have looked longingly at the training and internships that Ambleside Schools International (ASI) offer. However, because we visit the US only once in two years and usually in the summer – most of those sessions are over by then!

As a home schooling mother, I want to be sure I am doing this right, particularly the Charlotte Mason way.

I think sometimes we have secret fears. Are we doing this right? And maybe we are afraid to find out that we are doing it wrong. I for one, want to find out now. If I’m doing it right, then I want to learn to do it better and if I’m doing something wrong, I want to fix it now, while I can.

I wrote to Ambleside Schools and long story short, the St. Cyr’s very graciously made time to meet with me.

They answered some of the questions that were foremost in my mind and adressed some of the immediate struggles that I was facing. I so want to know how to motivate my children to want to learn; to enjoy homeschool every day, all the time. (Not baulk or be dragging their feet; even though this was not a constant feature, that it should crop up at all was disturbing to me. Was I doing something wrong?)

The reason I homeschool is to give my children the best, purest, safest education possible. Charlotte Mason’s approach to education as a whole rather than in fragmented sections, her understanding of education being an atmosphere, a joy, a gentle experience is not a consistent reality and this was starting to upset me.  By educating them at home, the last thing I want  is to do them a disservice so  that they fall short of their potential and end up with a cramped, basic knowledge instead of a full, inspired education.

First, let me say that Bill and Maryellen St. Cyr are not only extremely qualified educators but they also make a very handsome couple and are so very well spoken!  They exude not just confidence but an innate encouragement and kindness that is immediately comforting and challenging.

My sister and her daughter accompanied me. The St. Cyrs made us feel comfortable (after the fact that we were hideously late!) They never for one minute made us feel like they were put out – although let me tell you, we really did put them out – DC traffic can take some of the blame, a misleading GPS and my mother’s departure for India, but still!  Their graciousness  moved them up even higher in my estimation!

I feel like I owe it to my homeschooling friends and supporters to share a little of the treasure I gathered in that hour and fifteen minutes. I cannot share it all. So much was spoken to my heart but I will share some of it because I know that all of us have struggles that are real to us and we all can do with encouragement and guidance. Here is some of it, paraphrased, but what I gleaned in essence.

Performance orientation will kill true inspiration and learning. So focused am I on the material, the list,the curriculum, the text, the work, the performance, that I have missed out on communicating ideas, missed out on making the connections with fields of knowledge. It is possible that I am fostering the minimalist in my children.  That is, just getting them to do what has to be done – at the minimal, because I, the teacher, am not lifting their eyes to the greater. The one who sets the standard is I. I need to set the parameters. Not the children. I need to give them the high standard they can attain (and prosper in, if I may so add).

Regarding resistance:
O my, this truth came down hard and true and found it’s mark.

The anxiety spike! Any time anxiety kicks in, I am not a safe, dependable person. I need to move away from Anxiety Encounters to a High Joy Mode. Children pick up on anxiety and they pick up on joy. Let THEM challenge and assess themselves. All I need to do is get alongside them  -“get in the trenches with them”. Instead of “Why aren’t you getting this?”  “Can you not understand?”; it should be “This is normal”. “Does this make sense to you?”  “How can I help you?” And letting them totally be aware of the fact that I am not anxious about the situation.  How true it is that all failure,  stress and resistance can be traced back to anxiety! As Bill spoke, I could almost hear Christ saying, “Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be known unto God.”

After Bill and Maryellen left, I sat for a while and my dear sister let me have a little silence, go over my thoughts, cry a little and quietly meditate on the truths I had heard. It is one thing to read and learn but when you come in contact with someone who has been there, done that ( and I’m talking about a wealth of experience and expertise), been in the trenches and is sharing a life changing truth, it has an amazing impact. For one, you’re listening, seeing and feeling a great deal more than black and white. Not to say that the written page cannot be powerful – I am a firm believer in it’s slicing, wielding, life changing power; but person to person, face to face, heart to heart – is amazing!

I am excited to share that this year I will be mentored by ASI. I cannot even begin to tell you how eager I am to be mentored, held accountable and yes, monitored! I want to learn and so make learning  and teaching a joyous experience for both my children and I, respectively. I know that my God, whose yoke is easy and burden is light, will want me to be like Him. I pray I may be faithful and that what I learn may in small token bless and help those of you who are fellow-mom-teachers. I covet every prayer and harness every effort to that end!

I will keep you posted in my learning journey.  My Charlotte Mason journey led me to wonderful guides and I am looking forward to all that lies in the path ahead, only may I be found faithful in ardor and diligence.

Over the last year year we decided to take a different approach to poetry and illustrate it.  We studied Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg and Alfred Noyes.  I have to say we thoroughly enjoyed this method and are definitely going to be using this method again.

Alfred Noyes’ The Highway Man has always been a favorite in our home and especially on full moon nights, it is a must-read!  I had no idea he had written so much about Japan!

We read through a collection of each poet’s poems –  what we found online, as well as those in the poetry collections we have at home.  I would read aloud most of the time.  Sometimes the children took turns reading.  Occasionally we read to music but we usually found this distracting.  After the reading the children would draw and write the words that they liked.  Sometimes we narrated back what we thought the poem was about, what feelings it aroused, the pictures it painted in our minds.

“…wild regrets…trotting rain..arrows…music…wonder..
“

..”many little wild wishes..” in Margaret’s eyes

We wrote down words and lines that stood out for us and illustrated it as we wished.  For my own record, I copied down my favorite lines and enjoyed the children’s artistic impressions.  I think this year Carl Sandburg definitely became one of my favorite poets!  All three of us immensely enjoyed Chicago.  We all got a sense of Sandburg’s love for the city; his perception of it’s heart in the midst of it’s toil, industry, concrete and crime

When white teeth were illustrated as window panes of light in the sky scrapers; I thought how true was Charlotte Mason’s understanding of children! That they can listen and discern the intent of the writer without the mother’s unnecessary interpretation. Laying claim to a poem…making it their own.

We read poetry this year.  We listened. We felt. We saw. We drew. We wrote… and hopefully we will remember!

It has been an extremely packed three months!

My Macbook’s demise in Goa was most untimely and then Adam’s Dell suffered a similar tragedy!  Goa’s power supply is subject to extreme fluctuations and an unforseen surge took the life of our laptops!

We tried to fix them but alas!  That having been said, I am sure you can put together one of the reasons I have been far removed from blogging updates!

Anyway, we were home with family in the US from May until August.  We had a wonderful time!  Now  we are back in rain drenched Goa, re-united with our family here! And I have a marvelous second hand Asus to assist me!  (Go Ebay!)

It was a long journey home to Baltimore and a longer journey back home to Goa!  The good news it was so worth it!  We had a fantastic summer and all’s well that ends well!

Here are a few snap shots. As you can see, Mumbai’s airport has gotten pretty swanky!

So many high lights… getting to Grandmom and Grandpop’s; the beautiful playgrounds and parks of Maryland, Baltimore’s Lyric Opera House where we were entranced by the marvelous musical production of the Wizard of Oz.  A family day out to the Baltimore Museum of Art and of course lots and lots of fun with being with family and friends (and at least getting to talk with those we, unfortunately, could not meet)!

I’ve had some amazing encounters and have so much to share as far as homeschool is concerned – but I won’t overload this first-after-ages-post!

Once in a while you discover a treasure.  Such was my seemingly insignificant but oddly inspiring  find in one of my mothers’  bookshelves.  Daphne Du Mauriers’ 82 paged, 1940 Indian edition collection of short stories seemed to be waiting for me.

There’s always something irresistible about old and brittle yellow pages. I picked it up and I am ashamed to say that it was almost a year before I decided to read it.  One evening I embarked.  I have no regrets except that I wish I had begun earlier!

She compares the sixteenth century to her twentieth century and exposes the gulf between the modern ‘Safety First’ motto and the older ‘true valor’  constancy ‘ come wind come weather’ that Bunyan extolled. 

In her preface she says:

“In the following stories I have tried to show how ordinary men and women, like you and me, have faced up to the challenge of war and change, and how they overcome their troubles.  There is nothing heroic about them, they are in no wise different from or better than ourselves.  But each one has experienced the “inner battle” and look to the future now with faith and courage and conviction.”

It was Linda Fay in her blog who pushed me to start reading again.  I love reading but life gets so rushed and then I get to read only when I am on vacation.  She said she developed the discipline of reading a little everyday a book other than what homeschool required – reading for pleasure.  A little every day.  I decided to do this at night.  Sometimes, so bleary eyed that I could hardly focus and those nights I would read only what I intelligently could.  A paragraph, a page, a chapter.  I was amazed at what happened to me.  My world grew.  Not massively huge but wider – wider than my little sphere of the immediate.   Domestic frustrations, tensions, irritations, apprehensions became a little more bearable.  Life in general took on a more objective perspective.

Daphne Du Maurier helped me throw caution to the wind. In today’s’ world of strife and war, not much has changed since 1940.  Let nations war, why should people?  MORAL, not military,  armament.  A militant approach to morality; self-responsibility, kindness, goodness, peace and generosity of thought.  Simple. Profound.  “It seems at times easier to face a hundred bombers than one irritable relative!  Such is our poor human cowardice.”

This book helped me so much.  To not needlessly nit pick with my kids, not be as irritable with my spouse, think kinder of others than I was wont  and think less of myself and my pettiness.  It is such a pathetic place to be – to  wallow in self-pity and bitterness rather than up and arm to the greater!

This book is available on Amazon. Unfortunately it costs a lot more than six pence now!  But if you wish to transcend then it will be worth it!  I have found a new set of wings in a resolve to ascend.  This has also helped my children.  Learning to deal with each other in kindness, to not jump to the worst conclusion about the other, to give each other the benefit of the doubt. In stead of placing huge expectations they are finding that it is far better to ENJOY each other.   For the most part they get along well and really cannot do without each other but occasionally they bicker.  Instead of ‘resolving’ issues for them.  I asked them to think  a loud the scenario and ask what each could have done differently to turn the tide.  Then I asked them to write each other a letter.  They were so sweetly penned out and the love expressed seemed to wipe out whatever grievance they previously held!

Winston Churchill promised victory along with blood, sweat and tears.  This victory was sweeter!