CMER

Dawn Rhymer

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High School And Beyond

Image by Kristine A from Pixabay

I look forward to presenting Transcripts for a Charlotte Mason Educator. I had the opportunity to share this workshop at The Weekend of Living Ideas this past fall, and between the questions I received there and those that continue to come in by email, it is clear that Charlotte Mason families have a great need for support during the high school years.

Even though some of us will have an extra day together and there will be opportunities for consultations with Art Middlekauff and Jennifer Taylor, our time at the CMER will still feel short. With that in mind, I want to recommend a resource accessible to both local and nonlocal families. 

The Christian Home Educators of Colorado offers an excellent seminar, High School and Beyond. I had the privilege of attending this seminar when my own family was on the verge of entering high school, and it was invaluable. It is available in person (Castle Rock, January 10th) as well as through on-demand recordings.

Several team members and speakers have walked the road to high school graduation and beyond. Collectively, we have experience with students who have pursued college, the military, and gap years. Many of the families attending the retreat bring their own rich experiences as well. For those seeking encouragement, we are eager for the many high school discussions that will take place throughout the retreat.

We hope to see you there!

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CMER 2024: One Thing

Each year, at the group reflection time that brings the Charlotte Mason Educational Retreat to a close, we encourage everyone to choose one thing they will take with them: one thing to change, one thing to commit to, one thing to get accountability for. The group reflection time allows us to take the first hard step of publicly giving a name to that one thing.

My one thing is simple: cut back. 

With the beautiful, life-giving ideas Cindy Rollins shared during the plenaries, I left the retreat prepared to cut back. Within 24 hours, two big asks came my way. They were good asks to do good things with good people for good reasons, but I knew they would not be good things for me to do at this time. To the praise of God, through the ideas sewn at the retreat, I courageously and confidently said no. Saying no to something new is not cutting back but a start and an important step.

In Georgia, we have sweetgum trees. They are considered weeds by many and produce the spikey sweetgum ball. The balls are all over our yard, are painful to step on, and can tear a duck’s foot. (We have many ducks.) Their seedlings pop up like dandelions, growing from the roots of mature trees. We mow them down with ease. This is like saying no. But removing the sixty-foot mature trees is another story. It is a lot of work and can be expensive. This is like cutting back.

A friend asked, “What is behind the cutting back? Overextended? Are you involved in things you shouldn’t be or whose season has passed?”

These are good questions to ponder as I get out the chainsaw to start working on the trees.

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CMER 2022: Lead, Kindly Light

Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant, 1800, by Benjamin West.

This year we will be singing the hymn Lead, Kindly Light. Can anyone guess why?

As I was researching the hymn, I came across this blog. As I read it, I realized I simply wanted to link to the blog rather than try to create here what was done so well there. As I finished, to my joy and wonder I learned it was written by sweet, past CMER attendee Jenna Dilts. She gave me permission to use the art work she chose for her blog.

I hope you enjoy learning some of the history of this hymn. For those who would like to hear it ahead of time, here is a YouTube video and the music to the version we will be singing at the retreat. There are also links to two other versions in Jenna’s blog.