A

Charlotte Mason and the Older Child

Workshop Presented by Karen Canon
For Grade 7 and Up

It’s been said that ancient cartographers would designate unexplored regions on their maps with the inscription ‘Here be dragons’ by way of warning to travelers: this is the great unknown. Homeschooling the high school years need not feel like uncharted territory. Let’s address together some of these ‘dragons’ or misconceptions and chart a course to a living and fruitful high school journey for you and your teen. A mapped out itinerary is not our goal, but rather principles of travel that will inform our goings.

B

The Act of Knowing

Workshop Presented by Dawn Rhymer
For All Ages

We are always asking our children to narrate. Do you fully understand how hard a task you are asking of your child? Have you actually tried to narrate yourself? During this workshop, we are going to cover the how of narration and discuss many types. Hopefully both your understanding of narration and empathy for your child will grow as you get the chance to practice on your own.

C

Rewilding Nature Study

Immersion Presented by Jennifer Taylor
For All Ages

VERB

rewilding (present participle)

1. restore (an area of land) to its natural uncultivated state (used especially with reference to the reintroduction of species that have been driven out or exterminated).

We live in an age where time spent outdoors is diminishing rapidly for our children. And with this, I dare say, the child’s natural, uncultivated state of wonder and desire to be out-of-doors. Many parents and teachers recognize that their own sense of wonder and desire to be out-of-doors has been numbed next to extinction due to the demands of our Western culture. In this session, we will explore practices for the entire family that can help reawaken and restore our natural wonder and desire to commune with the natural world.

“We were all meant to be naturalists, each in his degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things.”- Charlotte Mason

D

Swedish Drill

Immersion Presented by Niko Lewis (This is a repeat of Session O.)
For Grades 1 through 3

We will spend our time in this immersion session learning about the philosophy behind Swedish Drill as part of physical development in a Charlotte Mason education. In light of the why of Drill, we will then move into the what where I will lead you through the process of learning a drill routine. I’ll also share resources to equip you to teach Swedish Drill to your own students, whether just your own children or in a co-op setting.

E

Plutarch’s Lives

Living Portraits

Workshop Presented by Karen Canon
For Grades 4 and Up

We can consider Plutarch to be more artist than historian. His biographies are portraits, painted with clarity and truthfulness, in order that the character of the inner man would be illuminated and we would be led to admire virtue and abhor vice. Considered to be studies in Citizenship, Mason’s students began reading Plutarch’s Lives in Form 2a (grade 5). We will tackle the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ of these lessons in citizenship, exploring how we can make smooth this very rich and rewarding pathway of learning.

F

Handicrafts

The Joy of Training the Eye and the Hand

Immersion Presented by Dawn Rhymer (This is a repeat of Session J.)
For Grades 1 through 4 ($5 Supply Fee)

What are handicrafts? What part did they play in a vintage Charlotte Mason Education and how do we translate that to our modern times? Having led handcrafts as part of the Aspen Grove Education Community for several years, I look forward to sharing our journey with you. Join us as we discuss making handicrafts a part of our own homeschools and try your hand at the handicrafts of paper sloyd and clay modeling.

G

Evaluations

Workshop Presented by Jennifer Taylor
For All Ages

How did Charlotte Mason evaluate students?  What can we learn from studying her methods to apply in evaluating our own homeschools so we can rest assured we are on the right track?  Jennifer will share from not only her research into the information we have from Charlotte Mason’s day, but also from her growing hands-on experience of evaluating her own children and providing end-of-the-year evaluations for many families.

H

Charlotte Mason & Dads

What’s in it for me?

Workshop Presented by Don Rhymer
For All Ages

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

The Banquet That is Shakespeare

Workshop Presented by Karen Canon
For Grades 4 and Up

You are invited to the banquet that is Shakespeare! Take according to your needs and desires, for there is ample to sustain and satisfy all manner of appetites. In this workshop, we will discuss what Shakespeare has to offer to the education of 21st-century children and how to partake of the banquet that is Shakespeare. No matter your familiarity with the Bard or your confidence to tackle him in your home, the study of Shakespeare is twice blessed: it blesses both in the giving and the receiving, the teacher and taught. Come and enjoy!

J

Handicrafts

The Joy of Training the Eye and the Hand

Immersion Presented by Dawn Rhymer (This is a repeat of Session F.)
For Grades 1 through 4 ($5 Supply Fee)

What are handicrafts? What part did they play in a vintage Charlotte Mason Education and how do we translate that to our modern times? Having led handcrafts as part of the Aspen Grove Education Community for several years, I look forward to sharing our journey with you. Join us as we discuss making handicrafts a part of our own homeschools and try your hand at the handicrafts of paper sloyd and clay modeling.

K

CM in Community

Relationships in Life and Learning

Workshop Presented by Jennifer Taylor
For All Ages

“…community is based on life with other persons in the spirit of Christ: to support them, to empower them, and to learn from them.”

Joan Chittister – Wisdom Distilled from the Daily

Charlotte Mason states that “education is the science of relations.” This includes the relationships that we have with one another as parents, teachers and students. Book Study, co-op, natural history club…these are all examples of ways we can live and learn in a Charlotte Mason community. In this Q & A workshop we will discuss the purpose of being in a Charlotte Mason learning community as well as present ideas to start a community in your area.

L

Picture Study

The Science of Relations in Art

Immersion Presented by Rebecca Zipp (This is a repeat of Session P.)
For All Ages

“…every child should leave school with at least a couple of hundred pictures by great masters hanging permanently in the halls of his imagination…he should go forth well furnished because imagination has the property of magical expansion, the more it holds the more it will hold.”

Charlotte Mason – Philosophy of Education

Charlotte Mason said that education is the science of relations and this is especially true in the area of picture study. We look at art not only to learn more about it, but more importantly, to develop a relationship with each piece, each detail, and through the paintings, each artist. Including picture study in your schedule does not have to be complicated, however, and can be a time of simply enjoying art together, sharing what you see. In this immersion session, we will walk through a picture study lesson and follow that with a discussion on different ways to include picture study in your own homeschool and why it’s important to furnish the halls of your students’ imaginations as well as your own!

M

Getting to Know “Ourselves”

Workshop Presented by Karen Canon
For Grades 4 and Up

Ourselves presents in an engaging manner ‘the possibilities that lie in human nature, and the risks that attend these.’ In this workshop, we will explore key insights into Mason’s scheme for the education of the whole child and how Ourselves both unfolds and breathes life into her scheme. Though the book was written directly to teens (Mason’s students read this book in middle and high school), she included the book in the educational series for parents and teachers, suggesting an understanding of this rich volume as vitally informing the parents’ role as well.

N

The Great Commandment

Workshop Presented by Dawn Rhymer
For All Ages

“‘…And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ … ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

In this workshop, we are going to reflect on the great commandment and see how it permeates Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy, beginning with an Atmosphere, a Discipline, and a Life. Hopefully, we will leave encouraged by the great work the Lord is doing in our lives and the lives of our children by way of our homeschooling journey.”

O

Swedish Drill

Immersion Presented by Niko Lewis (This is a repeat of Session D.)
For Grades 1 through 3

We will spend our time in this immersion session learning about the philosophy behind Swedish Drill as part of physical development in a Charlotte Mason education. In light of the why of Drill, we will then move into the what where I will lead you through the process of learning a drill routine. I’ll also share resources to equip you to teach Swedish Drill to your own students, whether just your own children or in a co-op setting.

P

Picture Study

The Science of Relations in Art

Immersion Presented by Rebecca Zipp (This is a repeat of Session L.)
For All Ages

“…every child should leave school with at least a couple of hundred pictures by great masters hanging permanently in the halls of his imagination…he should go forth well furnished because imagination has the property of magical expansion, the more it holds the more it will hold.”

Charlotte Mason – Philosophy of Education

Charlotte Mason said that education is the science of relations and this is especially true in the area of picture study. We look at art not only to learn more about it, but more importantly, to develop a relationship with each piece, each detail, and through the paintings, each artist. Including picture study in your schedule does not have to be complicated, however, and can be a time of simply enjoying art together, sharing what you see. In this immersion session, we will walk through a picture study lesson and follow that with a discussion on different ways to include picture study in your own homeschool and why it’s important to furnish the halls of your students’ imaginations as well as your own!