A. Handicrafts

A Beckoning Doorway

Workshop Presented by Amy Fiedler
For All Ages

THIS SESSION IS FULL. Have you ever stopped to consider why Charlotte Mason included handicrafts as a part of her curriculum? As a Mason educator, do you ever feel ill-equipped or unsure when you think about teaching handicrafts to your students? Let’s take some time to closely examine Mason’s own words on this topic, while also considering them in light of her twenty principles. By digging a bit below the surface, I hope we’ll come away with renewed inspiration and confidence as we continue (or even begin) teaching this vital subject. We will also be making a sisal/basket-making handicraft together to give you an idea you can immediately begin implementing in your home.

B. Story-Telling

Family Stories

Workshop Presented by Dawn Rhymer
For All Ages

“Every father and mother should have a repertoire of stories––a dozen will do, beautiful stories beautifully told… 
Charlotte Mason, Formation of Character p. 216

Charlotte Mason saw story-telling as a vital element of our children’s education, and, of all the stories we can tell our children, family stories hold a special place. Do you tell your children stories, connecting them to the past, present and future of your family?  We will learn from the Volumes, Parents’ Review articles, and glean much from past and modern story-tellers  And, of course, there will be a few family stories thrown in.  Hopefully you will leave this workshop motivated and equipped to tell your children stories, making them heir to all ages of your family.”

C. A Sense of Place

A Geography Immersion

Immersion Presented by Jennifer Taylor
For Grade 4 and Up

“The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.”
–Wendell Berry, The Unsettling of America: Culture and Agriculture

To have a sense of place is to have intimacy with the land and its people, past, present, and future. A sense of place requires relationship, which leads to community, and when we create relationships, we care. Charlotte Mason claims that the culmination of a child’s education is about how much he cares and about how many things he cares. One of the ways we discover a sense of place is through the study of geography. Join me on a journey to a part of our beautiful world during this geography immersion. You are the traveler and living books are our tour guide. Experience a hands-on geography lesson that will equip you to teach this subject using a Charlotte Mason approach.

D. Living Well

Lifelong Learning for Today

Workshop Presented by Sarah Lancaster
For Parents

One of the most beautiful and inspiring ideas in all of Charlotte Mason’s writing is the vision of laying a broad and generous feast before our children, inviting them to partake in the richness. At the same time, many parents are living on scanty mental crumbs, exhausted by all the demands in our days, confused about where and how to start, or simply overwhelmed by all there is to know. Without a nanny, cook, or any live-in maids, is it still possible for a twenty-first century parent to pursue a self-education? In this breakout session, we will look at what kinds of activities Miss Mason believed contributed to a well-lived life, learn a little about the immensely popular Mothers’ Education Course that was designed for the ordinary PNEU parent trying to fill in the gaps in her education, and brainstorm how to bring rich learning into our own busy days. Day by day, moment by moment, we can develop an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life and build something of eternal value—not just for our children, but for ourselves, too. Join us to discover how.

E. Brush Drawing

Workshop Presented by Karen Canon (This is a repeat of Sessions I and M.)
For All Ages

How did Mason prepare her students to keep Nature Notebooks? In this Workshop we will take the place of learners to experience lessons in Brush Drawing, the foundation of Mason’s drawing instruction, and a key skill in the training of the eye to see as well as the hand to reproduce.

‘We want the children to get form, colour, and gesture, so we sit them down before some flower or object…and teach them to boldly block them in, and catch their main characteristics, and afterwards (long afterwards) their details.’

The workshop will be offered three times. Space is limited. No supplies or previous skill level is required; attendance at The Arts and Miss Mason plenary is highly advised as this talk will set the stage for the work we will be doing.

F. Nature Study in Community

Immersion Presented by Jennifer Taylor

“We’re all meant to be naturalists.”

Charlotte Mason

You are invited to be inspired in the teaching and learning of Nature Study in this immersion session. Nature Study in a Charlotte Mason education can be experienced in several delightful ways. During this immersion, you have the opportunity to participate in Nature Study as a student in a group setting on the beautiful Hideaway property. Our time together will include a planned object lesson, time for exploration, journaling and shared narrations. Time for discussion will follow the Nature Study. Be sure to bring your nature journal, paints, pencils and appropriate nature walking attire (boots and coats recommended!).

G. Shakespeare

Immersion Presented by Sarah Lancaster
For Grades 4 and Up

“And Shakespeare? He, indeed, is not to be classed, and timed, and treated as one amongst others,––he, who might well be the daily bread of the intellectual life; Shakespeare is not to be studied in a year; he is to be read continuously throughout life, from ten years old and onwards.” ~Charlotte Mason, Vol 5, Formation of Character, p.226

Despite her wide reading and her admiration of many thinkers, Charlotte Mason placed William Shakespeare in a class of his own. He is one of the few writers whose work was considered so important that students studied his work year after year after year. Unfortunately, many parents today are hesitant to introduce their students to the Bard. Whether it is from their own intimidation, a feeling that this Elizabethan poet couldn’t possible speak into the lives of modern children, or concerns about the mature themes in Shakespeare’s work—perhaps all of the above or something totally different?!—too many students have yet to be introduced to the emotion, the magic, the beauty that is Shakespeare. In this immersion session, we will model a Shakespeare lesson, discuss how to approach bawdy or violent material, and brainstorm fun ideas for getting kids up and acting.

H. Charlotte Mason & Dads

What’s in it for me?

Workshop Presented by Don Rhymer
For Dads

The majority of the CM community is made up of moms, being the primary educator in the home. Typically at an early stage of a couple’s CM journey, the dad is likely to ask, “Is all of this worth it?”, “Will my kid get into college?”, or “Do I really need to build another bookshelf?” This talk walks through many intangible benefits of a CM education in the home and how a man can become a better husband, a better father, and how family unity can grow in ways hard to capture.

I. Brush Drawing

Workshop Presented by Karen Canon (This is a repeat of Sessions E and M.)
For All Ages

How did Mason prepare her students to keep Nature Notebooks? In this Workshop we will take the place of learners to experience lessons in Brush Drawing, the foundation of Mason’s drawing instruction, and a key skill in the training of the eye to see as well as the hand to reproduce.

‘We want the children to get form, colour, and gesture, so we sit them down before some flower or object…and teach them to boldly block them in, and catch their main characteristics, and afterwards (long afterwards) their details.’

The workshop will be offered three times. Space is limited. No supplies or previous skill level is required; attendance at The Arts and Miss Mason plenary is highly advised as this talk will set the stage for the work we will be doing.

J. A Shepherd at the Gate

The Calling of Leading a Learning Community

Workshop Presented by Amy Fiedler
For All Ages

Do you organize a CM learning community? Do you hope to begin one someday? Learning Communities or Co-Ops have much to offer a CM family, but they require intentional vision, courageous decision-making, and continual prayer. Join me as I share openly about The Arbor Guild, a multi-age CM Learning Community that I began in 2013.

K. Middle and High School Science

Workshop Presented by Dawn Rhymer
For Grade 7 and Up

Where science does not teach a child to wonder and admire it has perhaps no educative value.
Charlotte Mason, Philosophy of Education, p.224

Why is it so tempting to trust Charlotte Mason for all subjects but science?  Is it really possible for our older children to get a solid science education using Charlotte Mason’s methods and philosophies?  In this workshop we’ll examine what Charlotte Mason had to say about science and talk about what science looked like for the upper Forms.  Then, we’ll take a step back and see how this might apply to us today.  I’ll share the resources available to help you as you guide your older children through science.

L. A Parent’s Guide to Cultural Resistance

Workshop Presented by Gary Alan Taylor
For Parents

Today’s teenagers spend upwards of 9 hours a day online, and it’s shaping how they see themselves, the world, and their faith. Learn four practical ways your family can implement new, ancient Christian practices into your home environment to resist the dominant, pop cultural influences that seek to shape and form the next generation.

M. Brush Drawing

Workshop Presented by Karen Canon (This is a repeat of Sessions E and I.)
For All Ages

How did Mason prepare her students to keep Nature Notebooks? In this Workshop we will take the place of learners to experience lessons in Brush Drawing, the foundation of Mason’s drawing instruction, and a key skill in the training of the eye to see as well as the hand to reproduce.

‘We want the children to get form, colour, and gesture, so we sit them down before some flower or object…and teach them to boldly block them in, and catch their main characteristics, and afterwards (long afterwards) their details.’

The workshop will be offered three times. Space is limited. No supplies or previous skill level is required; attendance at The Arts and Miss Mason plenary is highly advised as this talk will set the stage for the work we will be doing.

N. Pilgrim’s Progress

Immersion Presented by Dawn Rhymer
For All Ages

Pilgrim’s Progress is a hard book. It is tempting to skip; it is tempting to modernize. But did you know it was a book which PNEU students read twice and sometimes even three times throughout their school careers? What makes this book so important that it appears on every Programme for 2nd and 3rd graders and then again during their middle school or high school years? During this immersion, we will answer this question and read and narrate a lesson together. Hopefully you will leave this session encouraged to make sure Pilgrim’s Progress does not get dropped from your booklist.

O. Liturgy of Our Days

Sacred Practices for Homeschooling Families

Workshop Presented by Jennifer Taylor
For All Ages

As homeschool parents it can be easy to feel discouraged, alone and undervalued. Inspired by the ancient writing, The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence and the modern book Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Every Day Life by Tish Harrison Warren, this conversational session will offer encouragement to homeschooling families as we discuss the sacred wisdom of these authors who reveal how we can embrace the ordinary as sacred. We will also uncover how the ideals of Charlotte Mason beautifully support living out our ordinary, homeschool days as holy days.

P. Teaching Persons

The Role of the Teacher in a Charlotte Mason Homeschool

Workshop Presented by Sarah Lancaster
For Parents

“There are so many voices in our ears as homeschool parents: whispering, persuading, and even yelling about what our roles should be. Do we guide our kids or watch them stumble? Can we lead without overpowering? Can we be the authority in our homes and homeschools, and still respect the personhood of our children? And what in the world does all this philosophy look like when we are trying to lead a history lesson on a Tuesday afternoon?

In this session, we will tune out those outside voices and explore what Charlotte Mason herself said to teachers, leading lessons, on a regular school day. What did she ask her teachers to do, and what did she ask them to avoid? What were the roles of a Charlotte Mason teacher, and which of them still apply in our own homeschool classrooms? Join us as we dig into her own words, looking for timeless principles that can guide us today.”