Break Outs: multiple meetings occurring at the same time from which only one can be chosen to attend.
- Immersion: a larger portion of the session will be spent modeling a lesson–actually doing what we would be doing in our homes or with a group. It will be “real time.”
- Workshop: though it may include a short example of modeling, the format will follow a more traditional lecture style with the possibilities of group discussion and short activities.
Break Out I

A
The Mystery of the Grand Conversation
Workshop Presented by Dawn Rhymer
For All Ages
I am often asked questions specifically about The Grand Conversation. As I took a step back to research this topic more fully, I learned the term is not to be found even once in Miss Mason’s Volumes, and I have yet to discover it in the Parents’ Review. What then is The Grand Conversation? What part does it play in a Charlotte Mason Education? How has it become such a buzz-word in the community? Join me as I share what I have learned about the history of this term and what Miss Mason might say to us today if she could whisper into our conversation.

B
Keeping
An Introduction to Mason’s Forms of Vitality
Workshop Presented by Karen Canon
For All Ages
…No teaching, no information becomes knowledge to any of us until the individual mind has acted upon it, translated it, transformed, absorbed it, to reappear, like our bodily food, in forms of vitality.
Charlotte Mason, Towards a Philosophy of Education, p. 2.40
In this workshop, we will look at the principles behind Keeping and explore some ‘forms of vitality’ such as Commonplace Books, Century Charts, Books of Centuries, and other Journals.

C
Teaching Reading, Copywork, and Dictation
Immersion Presented by Christine Jauchler
For Form I (or Grades 1-3)
It is quite necessary he should know how to read; and not only so – the discipline of the task is altogether wholesome for the little man. At the same time, let us recognize that learning to read is to many children hard work, and let us do what we can to make the task easy and inviting.
Charlotte Mason, Home Education, p. 214
In this immersion, we will dissect how Charlotte Mason approached reading, copywork, and dictation as described in Volume 1. You will look at how each element works together and how to implement these important tools in your homeschool.

D
‘The Way of the Will’ and a New Parenting Book
How Purposeful and Persistent Parenting Reflects CM’s Principles
Workshop Presented by Don Rhymer
For Parents
John and Cindy Raquet wrote a book decades in the making as a practical guide to fill in the gaps of a Biblical parenting philosophy. Much of this practical guide was written to systematically help parents “who struggle with teaching their children to respectfully obey them” as Scripture commands. It turns out, much of their practical guide resonates with Charlotte Mason’s principles. This session will unpack how many of Miss Mason’s principles, like “The Way of the Will,” intersect with the Raquets’ practical advice on basic parenting, especially for children 10 and under.
Break Out II

E
Scheduling
The Humble Time-Table (and more)
(This is a repeat of Session I.)
Workshop Presented by Dawn Rhymer
For All Ages
[L]et us look in at a home schoolroom managed on sound principles. In the first place, there is a time-table… Charlotte Mason, Home Education, p. 142
I jumped into the philosophies and methods of Charlotte Mason with a 6th, 4th, and 2nd grader and two in tow. Our days were long and arduous. I remember school days approaching 6 PM. I remember single terms stretching out over a whole year. As I read through the Volumes, I knew this was not how it was supposed to be. We were not experiencing the Atmosphere, Discipline, and Life a Charlotte Mason education so beautifully seemed to offer. But what were we doing wrong? In this workshop I will begin by sharing how the humble time-table made all the difference. I will then share about other tools we have used to organize our school day.

F
Plutarch’s Lives
Living Portraits
Immersion Presented by Karen Canon
For Forms II and Up (or Grades 4 and Above)
Plutarch’s chief value in education is derived from his role as artist, rather 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. As 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.

G
Mother Culture
The Importance of Continuing to Cultivate Ourselves
Workshop Presented by Rebecca Zipp
For Parents
What we need is a habit of taking our minds out of what one is tempted to call ‘the domestic rag-bag’ of perplexities, and giving it a good airing in something which keeps it ‘growing’… Is there, then, not need for more ‘Mother Culture’?
Parents Review – Volume 3
When our days are full, and various demands pull us in multiple directions, how can we justify taking time for ourselves? In this workshop, we’ll talk about what Charlotte Mason and others in the PNEU had to say about the idea of “mother culture,” why cultivating our minds is so important, and ideas for how to include this practice in our lives.

H
Rewilding Nature Study
Workshop Presented by Jennifer Taylor
[rēˈwīld]VERB
rewilding (present participle)
- 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. What a gift, then, that Charlotte Mason viewed time spent in the natural world as a vital part of child formation. In this session, our aim is to have a better understanding of how to approach Nature Study as it was intended. We will tackle the challenges of teaching Nature Study, find clarity about our role as teachers, and explore practices designed to rewild 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
Breakout III

I
Scheduling
The Humble Time-Table (and more)
(This is a repeat of Session E.)
Workshop Presented by Dawn Rhymer
For All Ages
[L]et us look in at a home schoolroom managed on sound principles. In the first place, there is a time-table… Charlotte Mason, Home Education, p. 142
I jumped into the philosophies and methods of Charlotte Mason with a 6th, 4th, and 2nd grader and two in tow. Our days were long and arduous. I remember school days approaching 6 PM. I remember single terms stretching out over a whole year. As I read through the Volumes, I knew this was not how it was supposed to be. We were not experiencing the Atmosphere, Discipline, and Life a Charlotte Mason education so beautifully seemed to offer. But what were we doing wrong? In this workshop I will begin by sharing how the humble time-table made all the difference. I will then share ab

J
Walter Scott and Charlotte Mason
Workshop Presented by Karen Canon
For Forms III and Up
Walter Scott played a vital role in Charlotte Mason’s awakening to the idea of a living book. As a youth, she experienced the jarring contrast between a classroom history textbook and a Waverley novel by Scott. Living books became a foundational principle of her method, and works by Scott permeated her daily personal reading and school programmes. Learn more about Walter Scott, his works, and his enduring appeal to Mason. Is there still a place for him at a modern educational banquet?

K
Teaching Form 1 Math
Immersion Presented by Christine Jauchler
Form Form I (or Grades 1-3)
In this immersion, we will be looking at how Charlotte Mason teaches math to form 1 students. Using a couple of different popular Charlotte Mason curricula, we will walk through how to do a math lesson.

L
Picture Study
Developing a Relationship with Art
Immersion Presented by Rebecca Zipp
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, Towards a Philosophy of Education, p. 43
Charlotte Mason said that education is the science of relations, and this includes the practice of picture study. Through this simple exercise, we look at art to develop a relationship with each piece, which in turn informs our sense of beauty, exposes us to excellent ideas in new ways, and increases our powers of observation. Though it may seem intimidating, including picture study in your homeschool does not have to be complicated (and shouldn’t be)! In this immersion session, we will walk through a picture study lesson and discuss why this component of Charlotte Mason homeschooling is so important.