{What We're Reading} :: September

Sneaking in a post before the month ends to catch up on what we have been reading lately...

Me

Stegner's Angle of Repose (just finished -- wow, what a book!)

Goudge's Bird in the Tree (the first of the Eliot trilogy)

In Memoriam, Norms and Nobility, and Formation of Character for various study groups

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (read the first half last year with the kids thanks to AO Year 6-- finally finishing the rest on my own)

As a Family

Secret Water from the Swallows and Amazon series, on audio

Vincent, age 12

His birthday books...

Marguerite Henry's Black Gold and San Domingo

Garnett's Blood-Red Crescent (historical fiction about the Battle of Lepanto)

and two books from the Catholic Tom Playfair series: Tom Playfair and Harry Dee

(He also got his first wrist watch -- which has been a HUGE hit. He times himself for everything now. LOL)

Gianna, age just-turned-12

Her birthday books...

Guerber's Myths of Greece and Rome (a vintage hardcover)

Natalie Babbit's Goody Hall (trying to find good middle-grade mysteries -- I will have to give Gianna's review once she has read it!)

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Flies Again (super light reading, but Gianna read the original to Cate last month so I thought she would appreciate the sequel)

DiCamillo's The Tale of Despereaux

(We decided 12th birthdays are the time for watches -- so she got one too! :))

Cate, age 9

Spyri's Heidi (she looooves it, and I haven't told her I have some more Spyri books for her waiting on the shelf!)
de Jong's Along Came a Dog (also from the AmblesideOnline list)
Cole's A Nest for Celeste (such a lovely book)

Xavier, age 8

Men of Iron, on audio

Little Folks of Many Lands (a Riverbend reprint -- I love that is has the Philippines!)

Happy Times in Noisy Village (a many-times-reread)

Bridget, age just-turned-7

Her birthday books...

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (beautiful illustrations)

Favorite Fairy Tales (my girls just don't tire of fairy tales!)

Favorite Stories and Songs (she loves these compilation books)

My First Book of Poems

Clara, age just-turned-6

Aaaand HER birthday books!

Bill Martin Jr.'s Ten Little Squirrels

Rumplestiltskin and The Magic Porridge Pot (to round out the Galdone folk tale collection!)

The Golden Book of Fairy Tales

To the Baby Boys

Ed Emberley's Yankee Doodle and London Bridge is Falling Down (4yo Drew's current favorites)

The Farmer in the Dell and The Glorious American Songbook (2yo Justin's current favorites)

Can you tell they are into singalong books right now? :)

...and Damien's favorite is whichever he can swipe from a sibling and gnaw on before anyone catches him! ;)

In the Mail...

Obviously our mail for weeks was overflowing with book boxes as we began the new year. Most of those hopped right on our shelves, but I corraled a few piles to share here. Did your mail look kinda similar in August?

That new May Mallam brush drawing book reprinted by Riverbend Press at the bottom of that pile is gorgeous, by the way!

Edwin Way Teale's A Walk Through the Year (planning to put this into our Morning Basket at some point!)
Rumer Godden's In This House of Brede (a hardcover to add to my collection)

And then I got this reference book series from my friend Virginia Lee's bookshop that I think will be useful: The Golden Book History of the United States.

And some special book mail: some borrowed Gouin books from a friend that came with a gift: Flowers of Coast and Sierra. If you are in California, check out this book! The writing is top notch and the illustrations are lovely.

What are you reading? I did a fair amount of reading over the summer but have slowed down on fiction now that school has begun. But the pre-reading I am doing weekly now DEFINITELY counts! :)

{This and That}

Hi friends! First, some announcements from the past week...

First: I'm honored to be part of a team working on a new Charlotte Mason print magazine!

Here's what I shared over on Instagram about it earlier this week:

Here we are, ready to officially launch Common Place Quarterly, the magazine for the homeschool mama who wants support and inspiration curated in the spirit of Mason, assembled from the hearts of fellow mamas on the journey, and delivered right to her doorstep. 🎉

This week @commonplacequarterly will be sharing a peek into the various sections of the magazine. You can also preview the content and view the whole team on the website -- just click on over to the IG account, press follow! 😉 , and then check out the link in profile.

The site is also all set up for pre-orders and year-long subscriptions! Orders have already begun rolling in and we could not be more thrilled.

I personally will be co-writing a column about notebook-keeping, sharing a gem from the archives (with discussion/journaling prompts!), and doing some behind the scenes work as well as feature writing.

The first issue, Beginnings, will be heading to print in time for a winter release. We would love to have you join us as part of the @commonplacequarterly community. ❤️

Please head over to the website to read more!

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Have you had a chance to check out the CMEC retreat package yet? Over six hours of solidly Charlotte Mason workshops and a 70-page handbook that will guide you through a retreat from the comfort of your home.

If you have already purchased, I would love to hear your feedback! Email me and let me know what you thought. :)

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I am not a handicraft expert at all, but that's part of the reason Maria invited me to contribute to her Meet the Maker series on @youngmakerscollective.

She asked me to discuss crafting with a large family, and I went into how I came to cultivate a maker culture without that background myself. Here's my intro post, and if you scroll back through her feed you can see the set of ten posts she featured last week, including each of my kids' favorite handicraft.

Any tips for crafting in large families! Our process is always evolving. :)

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Bridget kicked off our family's September birthdays by turning SEVEN a couple weeks ago. Chocolate cake, chocolate frosting -- can't go wrong!

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The kids have had so much fun with sloyd lately. I have especially loved seeing our handicrafts collide as they combine their sloyd projects with their papercutting.

I can't even count how many little envelopes and picture frames they have made. And those Mr. and Jenny Wrens by Bridget made my heart melt.

We also added Solfa this year with Children of the Open Air and 2yo Justin is picking it right up along with everyone else. He walks around the house doing his hand notes and singing "Sol-Me" right on pitch.

This education is really just too lovely for words. <3

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Our artist this term is Turner, and we really enjoyed looking at these two paintings side by side last week: Chichester Canal and Petworth Park. I thought you might too. :)

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How is your school year going?

Nature Study Outing :: A Special Hike

Usually I highlight the nature study outings I take with my children in this space, but today I thought I would share something different...

My husband and I had the chance to get away for 24 hours to celebrate our 15th anniversary! We took advantage and headed to Carmel, with a long afternoon at Point Lobos. This stretch of coastline is often foggy but still gorgeous. And it was so fun to get some nature study in sans kids!

First, the vistas...

Next, the wildflowers! They clung from every crevice in the bluff and lined the trails. I can't imagine what this looks like in spring if it was so beautiful in August.

indian paintbrush

california buckwheat

seaside heliotrope

The rock formations kept calling to mind my geology reading with the children.

We spent the rest of the time walking around Carmel -- the fog burned off, and really, that town could not be more lovely.

Hoping we won't have to wait another fifteen years to go on an adventure together!

Announcing :: 2018 CMEC Retreat Package!

Today I am going to recap the wonderful time I had speaking with Amy Snell in Philly in July. But I am so happy that in doing so, I can also tell you that the whole set of workshops we presented over that weekend are now available to purchase from the Charlotte Mason Educational Center website!

We designed and created this workshop series around a central theme: A Thinking Love: Its Duties and Delights. The set of seven talks builds in order, considering various aspects of our role as mother-teachers, from preparing lessons to teaching in the daily, to reflecting at end-of-term, to running the home alongside our homeschool. Our aim was to encourage the new homeschooler and experienced homeschooler alike -- I pray we accomplished that.

These talks are really where my heart is and were a labor of many, many hours of love and thought for me over the course of this spring and summer. I hope they are a blessing to you and your family!

And I have to say: if you aren't yet familiar with Amy Snell of The Mason Academy and Learning How to Live, you should be. Besides now being a close personal friend, she is one of the most committed and thoughtful Mason mamas I know.  And beyond that, she has the added experience of taking what she knows and loves about Mason and sharing it with many families and teachers in hybrid, conference, college, consulting, and retreat settings. She is truly a treasure and it was (is!) amazing to work with her.

For details, click over to the CMEC website to read workshop descriptions and about the beautiful package handbook the retreat team put together.

We also have a fun little side project in the works related to this retreat series: coming soon! :)

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Okay, on to my recap of the trip itself! I flew in a day early and we spent an evening in Princeton and a day in New York City at the Cloisters Museum. Heather and Camille, my fellow @charlottemasonirl curators, came too, as well as Erin Daly of Riverbend Press. It was thrilling to be able to meet all of these e-friends in real life. Such a refreshing use of our pre-conference time, both to visit the museum and to chat with good friends.

The retreat began the following morning. It was held at a small Christian college outside of Philadelphia, Eastern University, in the top floor of their library. Such a pretty backdrop for our talks.

I got to spend time with some ladies I have known online for ages.

The days were full but didn't feel rushed. We interspersed poetry recitation, picture study, swedish drill, singing games, and folk songs into our talks, and also had time for lettering and nature study. The ladies of The Mason Academy directed all of those "extras" and they did a wonderful job. By Saturday evening, I was tired but in the best way. Lots of good work, great conversations, and food for thought.

I stayed up way too late every night gabbing but it was worth it. It was such a treat to be back east with this group that I didn't want to waste a minute. Plus they have their regular meetings at a brewpub and a cake shaped like Volume 4 one of the dessert content -- so basically they are my kind of people. ;)

And then it was time to head home.

If you are in the Philly area, I highly recommend the annual CMEC summer retreat. They have been holding high-quality events and support for years, but are just now able to open their doors to a wider public -- and that promises to be such a joy for the local community. If only I weren't a plane ride away!

And in lieu of all of us flying out to Philly every summer, I hope you will consider listening to this retreat from the comfort of your own home. :)