{This and That} :: A June Update

Hello friends! Last time I was in this space, I shared about Christmas baking; somehow six months flew by and now it's June. Time for an update...

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We finished our school year back in April, so have been on break for the past six weeks or so. I always begin summer break with really high hopes for all I will be able to get done. Then about a week or so in, I realize that I still have children to care for, meals to cook, and all the usual life tasks to stay on top of, even if it is a "break." So I have to put my projects in perspective and go through a few iterations of a summer schedule before I find one I am satisfied with.

I like to treat each month of our break a little bit differently. So for the last few weeks of April, I  finished up my filing for the year, re-shelved books (and got out the books for next year!), made my pre-reading plan for the summer, and met with the kids to set up their summer plans. For example, I added my boys' chess tournaments to the calendar, signed my daughter up for a literature class she really wanted to take, helped kids pull book stacks for free reading, did some catch-up cleaning from those last few weeks of the school year that were so busy, etc. I think of this as launching summer break, not summer break itself -- it helps me feel better about all the effort it takes! 

We also fit in a good number of fun trips those first few weeks, including the beach and the art museum. And Easter was in April! It was a busy month.

Then in May, we set up a schedule and some goals for the month. One thing that has helped us all stay on track: I decided to continue with Weekly Meetings through the summer. With so many kids to manage, this has helped my life feel more manageable. Basically I have a short (5-10 minute) meeting with each of my older kids and any of my younger kids that have a request. We do coffee and cookies just like during the school year (though we may swap to something like lemonade once it gets really hot!). It's a time for me to handle any small things that have come up over the course of the week -- books they want me to request from the library, reminders about upcoming events, questions about projects, etc. Having these collected into just one day a week has made my mind feel a lot clearer, and my kids like knowing I will have time to chat if they want it.

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Another big help this summer has been Cate's Preschool!

On weekends when my husband is off with the boys at their chess tournaments, I hire Catherine to spend two hours with the youngest four (ages 8, 6, 4, and 2) doing some fun activities. She draws a timetable up on the white board and then executes -- all on her own. It usually involves her reading aloud a chapter from their current novel, drawing time, work on a sewing project, singing games, picture books, an Italian game, folksong singing, etc. In the meantime, I spend the two hours working in my bedroom. I only have a few rules for her: everyone has to be included, everyone has to be happy-ish, and no one can ask me any questions. ;) It is going wonderfully and she is now asking if she can do "preschool" with them more often. I think I will have her do a daily block with them the last week of this month when I'm ready to tackle some more of our school planning.

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One of these days I will have to round up {What We're Reading} like I used to, but for now, I thought I would highlight three books I have enjoyed lately...

During my morning prayer time I have been rereading Counsels of Perfection for Christian Mothers by Fr. Lejeune. I forgot  how good a book this is! It covers in a basic way the spiritual life for mothers. It has helped me build back some fruitful habits and rework some elements of my routine to strengthen my interior life. (This copy is a really nice hardcover reprint with a pretty cover and nice readable font. There are a few annoying typos here and there, but they do not detract from the meaning at all.)

My older kids will be reading Uncle Tom's Cabin this year as we study the Civil War. I had read selections in college but had never read it in its entirety, so it was one of the first big novels I picked up this summer. I found it enthralling as a historical document and painfully touching as a story. You see quite clearly Stowe's biases, but you also see a certain fierceness and fortitude that I found moving and admirable. It speaks to a very specific time and place, but it also speaks to our day in surprising ways -- and it offers an interesting example of a persuasive argument that I know my older students will want to analyze. A very difficult but worthy read. Some local friends and I will be discussing it next week for our little book club. (This copy has original illustrations and a pleasing typeset -- I recommend it. Just be aware it does not censor the n-word and is unabridged.)

Bruchac's Sacajawea was my other first novel of the summer, which my Form 2 and 3 kids will be reading next year with the CMEC. In telling the story of Lewis, Clark, and Sacajawea; the chapters go back and forth between perspectives; sometimes I find this jarring in novels, but here I found it made a enjoyable and intriguing combination. Bruchac did careful research for the book, and it shows -- the characters are brought to life beautifully and respectfully. There are a few difficult moments, so I would be cautious giving this to a sensitive young reader, but otherwise, it makes a great companion to or replacement for Daugherty's Of Courage Undaunted.

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I wanted to let you know of a couple places I'll be speaking this summer:

The CMEC Summer Retreat is back! We will be meeting at the beautiful Merion Tribute House outside Philadelphia on July 11-12 to consider "Our Constant Joy: Truth, Beauty, and Goodness in Home and School." There are just a few spots left, so if you'd like to attend, be sure to sign up soon. We are hoping to offer this year's retreat as a package for sale, like we have in the past. So if you can't make it to Philly this summer but are interested in learning more, keep an eye out for that coming later this summer/early fall. 

I will be speaking about artist study, composer study, and notebooks, and I am learning so much through my research -- as well as pulling together some of our family's "best practices" that I have always wanted to share in a more thorough way.

I also have pre-recorded an brief "Introduction to Charlotte Mason" for the Catholic Homeschool Conference happening this weekend -- with registration closing today! If you will be attending, I hope you'll look for my talk, "Educating Persons." And if you have Catholic friends interested in learning more about the Mason approach, encourage them to check it out as well!

(Speaking of the CMEC, registration is currently open for the 2022-23 School Year! We have two live chats scheduled in June: one for community learning and one about summer planning. You can find all the details at our website and request our Information Packet to learn more. I also plan to give the Fall Mini-Retreat this October, which is free for members, either in person in Philly or broadcasted live online to watch from home!)

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Some of my projects this summer, besides working on my retreat talks:

Thinking through college visits (how did we get here?!) and prepping for the SAT

Editing Gianna's second novel (hoping to get it out this fall!)

Lots of pre-reading!

Building our swimming skills (see goggles below!)

Organizing the garage and decluttering the bookshelves

And my littles keep me so busy: plotting out a delightful Kinderleben year for this guy (on the far left) and running after this sweetheart on the right!

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So what are you up to this summer? Will I see you in Philadelphia, or will YOU see ME (ha!) at The Catholic Homeschool Conference? Do you have any advice for college visits? (We're looking for a college that's super friendly to traditional Catholics.)

And I'll have to come back with a recap of our school year. It was a great year.

{This and That} :: December 1st

Hello friends! Are you enjoying the start of December? With Thanksgiving past, Advent present, and Christmas to come, it's one of my favorite "seasons" of the year!

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving that I took literally zero photos of. How is that possible?! Thanksgiving Friday we were able to go to Mass and visit the graves of family members for All Souls' Day/month. It's always so striking to see children at a cemetery -- a good reminder of both the mortality of the body and the immortality of the soul.

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Advent is such a holy time of the year. I love how the preparation we must do in our homes and for our families becomes a metaphor for spiritual preparation. And I love the time for reflection and the hope of a new year to come.

I realized that I only have two Advents left after this before my older children are in college or out living their lives! That humbling thought brought home the idea of preparation in a new way for me this year.

I am reading Houselander's Reed of God and thinking about L'Umile Pianta, or the humble plant, as we have been discussing over at the CMEC this fall. We have also been talking about the "habit of attention" as demonstrated by Our Lady. The "serenity of the Madonna" (as Mason calls it) is such a powerful posture for the mother-teacher. Fruitful connections between life and lessons for me to ponder this Advent!

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Justin celebrated his sixth birthday this month! He got his own TBG Songbook, which he loves using for singing, recitation, and writing. And as you can see in the photo on the right, he lost his two front teeth in the last two weeks -- just in time for Christmas. ;)

 

I love this picture of him napping by the fire. So cozy, and so him! He loves to cuddle.

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Some snaps from our exam celebration in October...

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And now we are currently in the second half of our second term! (I divide each 10-week term into two 5-week sessions for my planning.) That means we're right at the halfway point in our school year, which is hard to believe.

Work from the past couple weeks...

kingfisher from Burgess Bird Book

Form 1 Bible narrations

grammar lessons with my Form 2B student

demonstrating the Pythagorean theorem

Kinderleben monograms

table work

chalk drawing lessons

clay modeling - snakes!

outdoor geography -- and enjoying the fall sunshine!

final projects for Plutarch and Beesly's Stories from the History of Rome

I have to admit, it was a bit hard to get back to things on Monday after the long Thanksgiving weekend and with Christmas break almost in sight -- which is why I am so grateful for our timetable! I just got up and did the "next right thing" and the day flew by.

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My goal this year was to finish all the Christmas shopping I could before Thanksgiving, and I succeeded! I really just needed the mental space during Advent to focus on home things and spiritual things.

If you are looking for gift ideas, I am happy to share a few. (Just don't tell my kids! :))

:: These journals are lovely and seem very durable. They arrived in the mail but I put them aside, so we haven't tried writing on them yet. But they get great reviews and have so many pretty cover options.

:: These small jewelry boxes are going to be perfect for each of my girls to store her own jewelry. (I also grabbed some assorted studs for my oldest, who got her ears pierced just a month ago!)

:: One of my goals for this year was to encourage physical activity and time outdoors. My older boys have started running every morning and are getting running socks and gloves. I also have pots, seeds, tools, and gardening gloves on the way for them! And I grabbed scooters at a deep discount for a couple of my middle kids who have outgrown their smaller ones. We love these water bottles (totally leak-proof and easy to clean) and needed a couple more for our adventures, and the girls needed new warm socks of various kinds to wear with their rain boots.

:: Youngers are getting frisbees, socks, gripper socks, winter gloves, onesies and soft-soled shoes.

:: A few books on their wish lists: The Living Wood and The Keeper of the Bees (olders), Enemy Brothers and The Last Crusader (older middles), Snow Treasure and Springtime with Geraldine Woolkins (younger middles), If You Lived Here and Where is Baby's Belly Button (littles).

And if you're looking for stocking stuffer ideas, I have lots of little things recommended here. This year, we're doing pajamas all around, peg doll craft kits, and the essentials -- chocolate and oranges, of course!

And might I recommend my daughter Gianna's novel, Four Red Banners, for kids who love a good story? :)

What are you gifting this year? I am hoping to get a head start on this year's birthdays during Christmas break and would love fresh ideas.

(Links above are affiliate links. Thanks for your support!)

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I have a post about our family prayer routine coming soon -- hopefully some time in December. Until then, wishing you a fruitful Advent!

{This and That} :: Happy October!

Happy to be popping in with an update on a very rainy, very delightful Sunday afternoon!

We begin exams tomorrow after a very full first term. This is the one of the smoothest first terms I have ever had, thanks mostly to lots of help from my husband as we transitioned to a fuller morning timetable. Whenever he is not in meetings, he has been keeping the three youngest with him to play in his office from 9-11am. On the days he is busy, I have a rotation of toys and Littleleben activities ready for them. I no longer have a morning break, but I have enjoyed finishing my school day earlier and am feeling less tired in the afternoon hours.

Home education is always a stretching experience -- there is no avoiding the challenges that each day brings in a family with so many different ages and personalities! But I am so grateful for a joyful fall term and excited for the weeks ahead.

Some recent highlights from our work together...

Form 1 pacing and mapmaking

singing with our TBG Songbooks

sloyd portfolios

Plutarch weekly painting!

Burgess Bird Book brush drawing

flat washes

raffia tassels

reading lessons - word-building practice

breakfast reading

chalk drawing - warm-up with spirals

object drawing in chalk - ellipses

weekly meetings

Form  5 commonplace

Plant Life in Field and Garden - male and female flowers

raffia fringe

European geography with playdoh

...and with the white board!

clay modeling from imagination

high school  chemistry

the littles playing restaurant :)

Trojan horse in the Book of Centuries

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My trip to Philadelphia for the CMEC's Fall Mini-Retreat a couple weeks ago was a wonderful time. Amy and I were able to explore composition through the Forms, from copywork in Form 1 through high school writing.

We spent a morning walking in Valley Forge while we brainstormed our community offerings for the next year. The perfect place for perspective and inspiration!

And I had a window seat on my flight home on a beautifully clear day. (Can you tell which part of the country I was flying over in each one?)

I can always tell when I'm back home in California when I see its neat suburbs creeping up the golden hills that stretch for miles.

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My three September birthday girls are looking so grown up...

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What have you been reading lately? After lots of pre-reading this summer and early fall, I have taken the last month or so to pick up some more leisurely books...

On my flight to Philadelphia, I spent five thoroughly riveted hours reading Willa Cather's Shadows on the Rock. This was actually a re-read for me, but it had been a few years and my high schoolers will be reading it this spring. I was reminded why it is one of my favorites of all time as I tried to hide my tears on the packed flight!

My Form 1 students have been listening through the Little House series for their literature reading this term. After hearing bits and pieces here and there, I decided to re-read the series myself back-to-back last weekend. I have to say: it was a more emotional experience than I was expecting! It had probably been five years since the last time I read the novels, and wow -- it is a different series altogether when your oldest daughter is the same age as Laura when she gets her first teaching job away from home. It gave me a lot to think about.

Today I started The Song of the Scaffold, which I read years ago but don't remember that well. I'm thinking it might make a good addition to next year's study of the French Revolution.

So I suppose it is a season for re-reading? I am always looking for something familiar in the fall. Do your book choices vary by season?

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After talking about restful Sundays at the CMEC Summer Gatherings this past July, I have been motivated to refresh my own Sunday routine. It's always nice to build in some special, small practices that help make it a day to look forward to. (Especially because football season means I have several free hours on Sundays while the kids watch with my husband!)

We go to an early Mass so my sons can serve, so we are home in time for breakfast. I always enjoy my leisurely Sunday coffee -- it is truly a highlight of my week.

A fun recent addition: I have been using my Dry Gloss kit from Bare Hands (a gift from a dear friend) to take care of my nails each week. The best thing about this kit is that it gives you neat, shiny nails with no polish -- I love it. While I'm doing my manicure, I listen to a podcast episode. My current favorite is from Optimal Work. Usually I really enjoy the quiet and I'm not generally a podcast person, but this has been a nice change of pace for me on Sundays.

I also work in my TBG Notebook. I don't usually have time to make an artist or composer study entry during our lesson because my Form 1 students need me to act as scribe for their narrations, so on Sundays I set aside time to sketch or write. I also occasionally pull out my Book of Centuries or nature journal if I have something I'd like to add. 

(As a side note, my kids are using the Riverbend Press TBG Notebooks this year and they just adore them. They take such good care of them because they feel so special, and the paper is a dream to work on. But I like a smaller format for myself right now; I'm using a Prat Flexbook for my TBG Notebook.)

Sundays always involve some spiritual reading for me as well. I mentioned this before over on Instagram, but I use Sundays as an opportunity to read the week's Bible lessons. A few weeks ago, I read ahead and completed the term's assignments, so lately I have been dipping into The Sermons from St. Alphonsus Ligouri for All Sundays of the Year (which my older kids are also reading weekly), Scale How Meditations, and others from my shelves. Often my spiritual reading helps me form an intention for the week that I write in my logbook as a daily prayer.

And I like to have a treat for Sundays. Right now I am well-stocked with options because my kids gifted me with some fun sweets for my birthday -- I'm enjoying some homemade lavender ice cream right now (!) and have several chocolate bars stashed in my desk drawer. But often my girls will bake something tasty to enjoy over Sunday. We then save the rest in the freezer to pull out for the next Friday's Weekly Meetings. As the weather gets colder, I have been sipping hot water with lemon through the afternoon as I sit and read. Fragrant and fresh!

My Sunday observance too varies with the seasons. Soon it will be time for cozy fires, baking, reading, and crafting. :) What ways have you been making Sunday special lately?

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Like I mentioned, I recently celebrated a birthday and got so many fun little handmade gifts from my crew...

Aren't they so creative? I love to see how they take skills they have built during lessons over the years and weave them into thoughtful things.

And the large papercutting in the top center is by my kindergartener and is based on Turner's Dordrecht from the Kinderleben Artist Print Set. This is actually his second time reinterpreting the piece -- he also painted it a few weeks ago!

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Before I sign off, a few logistical notes:

First, a few months ago, Blogger somehow switched my comments to moderated without notifying me. I noticed last week that I had dozens and dozens of comments awaiting moderation in my account. I went through all of them and commented back, so you may have recently heard from me about something you asked long, long ago. ;) Sorry about that!

Some of you have sent email requests recently to access documents I have shared here on the blog in the past. Google Drive made a security update that turned off sharing settings for old documents -- and since I have been posting here for over a decade, that affected a good number of my Drive links! I think I have resolved the issue, but if you encounter a problem, feel free to hit that "request access" button so I am aware of which documents still need to be tweaked.

Speaking of old documents, one this has always been popular is the All Souls' Day prayer cards I created years ago -- and November 2nd is just around the corner! You can find that free printable here.

Finally, you may have heard that Google's blog subscription service, Feedburner, was recently discontinued. I converted all existing email subscriptions to Follow.me. But if you used to get email notifications for new posts here on Joyous Lessons and are no longer doing so, you may need to re-request to follow. You'll find the subscription box over in the right sidebar. As always, thanks for following along. I really appreciate your readership.

Have a great week!