~~~In the meantime, I'm trying to stay busy! Yesterday I cut both my baby boys' hair and put together a new bookshelf, which means I'll be doing a bit of book rearranging today. I'm so happy to have this bit of extra space, and the shelf is conveniently situated as an endtable for my rocker in the office -- should come in handy!
The day before that, I put together our tentative school schedules for this fall. I'm still tweaking and thinking, but it's looking quite promising. And best of all: I think I can still maintain a school day that ends by 2pm even with two middle schoolers, two elementary students, and a very eager kindergartener all having full "feasts." We'll see how that all turns out with a newborn and a challenging toddler, plus two other preschool-aged kids in the mix. It's always a bit of a science, a bit of an art -- as all homeschool mamas know. ;)
~~~
Have you heard the news? Brandy has released a beautiful new version of In Memoriam: A Tribute to Charlotte Mason in print via Amazon. This is a collection of essays, letters, and speeches written or delivered on the occasion of Charlotte Mason's death. I read it recently and it is tremendously inspiring. It has been available free at the AmblesideOnline site for many years (and still is!), but now I'm looking forward to having this lovely copy on my shelf to read, annotate, and discuss with friends.
~~~
Looking ahead to my upcoming hospital stay: I don't cause a fuss, but I really can't stand being at the hospital a minute longer than I have to, and the whole time I'm there, I'm working on making sure our paperwork is in place to get out and home to the kids right at the 24-hour mark. So during the long stretches of what feels like really uncomfortable waiting, I like to make sure I have plenty to occupy my mind. Here's what I'm planning for this time:
Looking ahead to my upcoming hospital stay: I don't cause a fuss, but I really can't stand being at the hospital a minute longer than I have to, and the whole time I'm there, I'm working on making sure our paperwork is in place to get out and home to the kids right at the 24-hour mark. So during the long stretches of what feels like really uncomfortable waiting, I like to make sure I have plenty to occupy my mind. Here's what I'm planning for this time:
Megan Hoyt's A Touch of the Infinite (with pencil in hand)
Dianne Hale's La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language (light and fun)
Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov (easy choice since it's on my Kindle)
...and a couple podcast episodes I have been saving:
"The Nitty-Gritty Guide to Homeschooling High School Boys" from the Schole Sisters and Cindy Rollins
My friend Camille Malucci talking about sloyd on "The Mason Jar"
That should keep me occupied!
~~~
A few sweet snaps from our beach outing last week -- probably our last beach outing in a while!
Dianne Hale's La Bella Lingua: My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language (light and fun)
Dostoevsky's Brothers Karamazov (easy choice since it's on my Kindle)
...and a couple podcast episodes I have been saving:
"The Nitty-Gritty Guide to Homeschooling High School Boys" from the Schole Sisters and Cindy Rollins
My friend Camille Malucci talking about sloyd on "The Mason Jar"
That should keep me occupied!
~~~
A few sweet snaps from our beach outing last week -- probably our last beach outing in a while!
~~~
We are a big step closer to securing a location for the next CM West conference, scheduled for February 2018. I took a little tour of a potential site last Friday and it looks like it will be a good fit for our group!
The exciting news: that means that soon we will be offering an advance deposit option for those who want to be secure a fully-refundable spot for the event. We sold out quickly last year and had a long waitlist to boot, so this will be your chance to ensure you have a spot lined up for you when registration opens officially this fall. Stay tuned for details!
It will be announced here, on Instagram, and via the Charlotte Mason West email list, which is really your best bet for keeping abreast of conference news. If you haven't yet signed up, please do! I don't want you to miss it.
~~~
A couple weeks ago I hosted the @charlottemasonirl focus on Nature Study. If you're looking for some guidance, from getting started to how to keep study fresh for older students, take a look through the posts I shared from our community over the course of the week. I found a lot of inspiration in my own work my students and I hope you will too!
~~~
Okay, hopefully I will not be popping back in there until baby is BORN since I'm already several days overdue. I can't imagine it will be much longer now! So expect an update from me with happy baby news in the next few days over on the Joyous Lessons Facebook page and my Instagram account. I appreciate your prayers as I get closer to labor day!
Wishing you a lovely weekend!
We are a big step closer to securing a location for the next CM West conference, scheduled for February 2018. I took a little tour of a potential site last Friday and it looks like it will be a good fit for our group!
The exciting news: that means that soon we will be offering an advance deposit option for those who want to be secure a fully-refundable spot for the event. We sold out quickly last year and had a long waitlist to boot, so this will be your chance to ensure you have a spot lined up for you when registration opens officially this fall. Stay tuned for details!
It will be announced here, on Instagram, and via the Charlotte Mason West email list, which is really your best bet for keeping abreast of conference news. If you haven't yet signed up, please do! I don't want you to miss it.
~~~
A couple weeks ago I hosted the @charlottemasonirl focus on Nature Study. If you're looking for some guidance, from getting started to how to keep study fresh for older students, take a look through the posts I shared from our community over the course of the week. I found a lot of inspiration in my own work my students and I hope you will too!
~~~
Okay, hopefully I will not be popping back in there until baby is BORN since I'm already several days overdue. I can't imagine it will be much longer now! So expect an update from me with happy baby news in the next few days over on the Joyous Lessons Facebook page and my Instagram account. I appreciate your prayers as I get closer to labor day!
Wishing you a lovely weekend!
Praying for an easy delivery! :) Hurry, Baby!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Catie! Luckily these late, drawn-out labors do usually result is smooth deliveries for me -- I'm praying that is the case this time as well! :)
Deletepraying that baby comes soon & safely! waiting is the worst!!!!!
ReplyDeleteYeah, it kinda is, Heather. LOL Thank you so much for the prayers and adding my prayers for a smooth six-ish weeks of pregnancy left for you also! :)
DeleteGod bless you Celeste,
ReplyDeleteYour blog has been a bigger help to me over the years that practically anything else, so grateful for everything you have shared here. Will pray the remainder of my rosary for you and baby today.
God bless
Antonia
(England)
xxxx
Thank you so much, Antonia. What a blessing you are in your positivity and encouragement. <3
DeleteWait, hold on! I need more on the school schedule!! ��
ReplyDeleteHaha! There will be more to come -- this is just a peek. :) I'm starting later this year because of the baby (in August rather than in July), so it may be later in the fall, but I'll definitely be sharing at some point! :)
DeleteI admire your determination and organization Celeste! You're hospital selection looks lovely :) Just heard the Mason Jar with Camille last night, it is great! Oh, and my husband agreed to take a family vacation on the West coast next February, fingers crossed :)
ReplyDeletePraying for a healthy, happy and fast birth!
XO
Mariana
Hi Mariana,
DeleteAbout February: wouldn't that be an absolute treat!! And thank you so much for the prayers!
I saw Brandy's post about In Memoriam. I haven't read that one yet. I need to add it to my list! I always enjoy reading your planning and schedules posts, so I'm looking forward to hearing about your plans for this coming school year. I hope to do a post on my blog for our upcoming Year 4. But I think I'll wait until we are a few weeks in first. ;) I think it might take us a couple of weeks to try out the schedule and make any tweaks necessary. I've made estimates on how long certain readings will take (like Robinson Crusoe, Plutarch, Shakespeare). But it really will take us starting the readings to really fine tune the schedule.
ReplyDeleteI'm also quite excited about some of the resources I chose for morning time. Based on how highly you speak of Mother Mary Loyola's books, I got a couple for us to read this year. I'm really excited about it! And I bought the St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism and am pairing it with the Angel Food for Boys and Girls series (at least the one I have anyway) using the document Jen Macintosh put together. So excited about that too!
I will pray that delivery will be soon, and that all will go well for you and baby!
Take care,
Karen
I usually wait to blog anything about my year until we have a term under our belts -- by then, I have already made some tweaks and feel confident in our choices and how the rest of the year will go. :) And yes, estimating the length of readings is always a challenge the first time through a year! I'm still figuring that out for my Year 6 kids and won't know for sure until we start.
DeleteI hope you love MML as much as we do! I haven't decided which of her books we'll be doing this year, but we have enjoyed all the ones we have read so far. I think we're also going to make a second pass through her "First Communion" again because I'm preparing two of those this year and it has been a few years. :) And yes, that Catechism + Angel Food is fun together!
Thanks for your prayers, Karen! <3
I'm looking forward to the MML books! We're finishing up A Life of Our Lord by Marigold Hunt in term 1. I am loving this book! The MML books we'll be using are Hail Full of Grace for term 2 and The Child of God for term 3.
DeleteYes, we have enjoyed ALL the Marigold Hunt books. Hail Full of Grace is lovely and my daughter in particular felt like she got a lot out of it to spur her rosary meditations. We haven't yet read The Child of God -- you will have to let me know how you like it!
DeleteKeeping you in my daily prayers Celeste! Your blog is such a gift to me too.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much, Lucy!
DeleteLove your hospital reading and listening list! That Italian book looks right up your alley. I hope it is as enjoyable as it sounds! I'm still chewing on that High School podcast... I thought it was also a good reminder that our children are not our own. And I really enjoyed Camille's Sloyd podcast, she did a great job (of course!). And I am so glad this new copy of In Memoriam is out!! I ordered it as soon as I heard about it yesterday and I am eagerly awaiting it. I've been wanting a print copy of that book for a long time!
ReplyDeleteYou, your baby, and your family are in our prayers!
Yes -- our children are not our own is what others have shared as their take-away about that podcast too. I think especially for young men, it's always a good reminder.
DeleteI'm really excited to dig into In Memoriam. I read almost all of it quickly a couple months ago with the idea that I'd do a thorough reading once it came out in print. I already found SO many wonderful bits to chew on.
Praying for a safe birth for you and your little one!
ReplyDeleteI had to chuckle at your preparations for your uncomfortably long hospital stay (I'm so the same way, get me home!). I'm a maternity nurse, and I've yet to come across anyone reading The Brothers Karamazov postpartum! So fantastic! :)
Ha! I did get a BIT of Brothers K read while there, but not much -- too many nurse interruptions! ;) How great that you are a maternity nurse. I'm sure you have such a lovely perspective on the process of nursing the mamas in your care. <3
DeleteI loved La Bella Lingua :o)
ReplyDeleteGood to know -- I am really enjoying it so far!
DeleteI'm working on planning... checking out your charts again... thanks AGAIN! for sharing your work with us. I can't tell you how many forehead slaps I've thought I should give myself after I see your charts (as in - this is so obvious, why didn't I think of it myself?). I'm curious - if you're using Drop of Water with your Form I this year, do you think it would work for my Y3 and young Y1 to do together, or would it be better saved for when the Y1 is older?
ReplyDeleteIt would work for the Y1 just on the "wonder" level (like, "wow, that's really neat), but I doubt the Y1 would grasp any of the science behind it. My Y3 and Y2 are just barely understanding some of the scientific concepts (not that I mind that), but my Y6 are getting it much more thanks to some of the other reading they are doing for their schoolwork (like the elements and such). But *everyone* is loving the demonstrations and I think it is a GREAT one to do in a group! Simple but exciting. :)
Delete