Keeping Company :: Fall 2017

Welcome to Keeping Company for fall!

First: an announcement!  I'm going to be changing the format of Keeping Company a bit from here on out. Over my blog break, I had some time to think about the most effective way to host this community of keepers, and I feel like the platform for this kind of sharing has shifted largely to Instagram. Almost all the participation in this link-up happens over there with a few (very notable, very wonderful) exceptions.  And I understand why: with its visual emphasis, Instagram makes the sharing of photo examples seamless.

I, however, still love blogging and the flexibility and permanence it affords, so I want to maintain the community for those that blog also. I think I've figured out a way to do that. Here's how the opportunities to share will look moving forward:

:: I will put up a quarterly/seasonal Keeping Company post here (rather than monthly) where I will share posts from the blog world that have been linked up, update on the keeping going on in our family, and select a couple favorites from the Instagram tag to highlight.  In the comments of that post, I'd love for you to link up your blog posts and relevant articles for me to spotlight in the next edition.  (That will be in lieu of the blog linky tool that I have been using.)

:: On Instagram: come check out @keepingcompanycm!  I plan to use this new account to respost the photos tagged by the community daily-ish. This will allow you to like, comment, engage, and chat with the original posters of the images.  It will also allow me to repost people's images along with their captions, which are often just as helpful as the photos themselves. I'm hoping it will be a wonderful resource both for newbies and for moms with experience and wisdom to share.

If you're not on Instagram but still enjoy looking at the keeping photos: this account will be a public account, so anyone can view it. I will put a link to it in each Keeping Company post here, so you can hop over and take a look through with a hot cup of tea every so often. :)  But rather than rounding up Instagram photos to share here, I'll be sharing them on the @keepingcompanycm page.

I hope this will be an effective way to cater to the various needs of the Charlotte Mason keeping community. If you have further organizational suggestions, feel free to let me know!  Thanks for bearing with me as I tweak. :)

~~~

And now on to our FALL keeping conversation...

Starting the Discussion

I shared this over on Instagram, but I thought I'd include it here as well...

I reserved one little corner of our new art wall for our Weekly Paintings, which is something I instituted this year. Each week, each student chooses one thing to draw + watercolor from any of their readings for that week. It is always fun to see what they pick -- they go back and forth all week deciding what their subject should be. It is a form of narration as well, though it doesn't take the place of oral narration for us.

I encourage them to use small cards (these are artist trading cards) so that the task feels simple and pleasant rather than overwhelming. It also requires them to thoughtfully cull as they work in a small space. I have a slightly larger card available too that they can use if they insist. 😊

For the week pictured above, Xavier drew the Little Duke sitting on the King of France's lap, Cate painted a sea slug from Pagoo, Gianna copied an illustration of Judah and his mother from our copy of Ben Hur, and Vincent replicated a drawing of a centurion from Augustus Caesar's World.

This week -- well, can you guess?

Cleopatra about to drop her pearl into her goblet - from Augustus Caesar's World
Lake-Town - from The Hobbit
Mona Lisa - from Child's History of the World
Perseus and Andromeda - from Kingsley's Heroes

Just adding a little more fun and beauty to our week! (And it's great scaffolding for our other keeping too!)

I also shared the reading journal I have been keeping for our Year 6 studies.

Both of these new "forms of vitality" have enlivened our keeping routine. Are you trying out any new notebooks or notebooking habits this fall?

This Month's Round-Up

Nancy shares a collection of aphorisms from "a mother" straight from the PNEU miscellaneous archives.  I think you'll find that many are commonplace-worthy!

Carol has a bit of everything: poetry, Shakespeare, architecture, and science -- all from one student in one week!  I love snapshots like this. They help to remind me of the bigger picture.

I've been watching Amy read Anna Akhatova poems over on Instagram, and here she shares one with us.  (And some words from Miss Mason too!)

Melanie and her daughter "keep" a beautiful collection of pressed flowers for display. A wonderful handicraft!

Now it's your turn!

The Link-Up

:: For BLOGGERS: Leave a link to any blog posts related to CM-style keeping in the comments section of this post all quarter.  I will be sure to click over and read so I can highlight them here in the next edition!

:: For INSTAGRAMMERS: Tag related photos with #KeepingCompanyCM.  You can also follow my new account: @keepingcompanycm. I will be re-sharing daily on that account from posts tagged!

:: Any posts about CM-style Keeping are welcome.  Your post can be as simple as a photo of your commonplace book or your kids' drawing.

:: You can grab the button over there on the sidebar if you'd like to add it to your post or site.

Thanks for your participation, friends!  Happy to be in community with you. :)