Our Charlotte Mason community – Truth, Beauty, Goodness – had its first meeting of the new school year. Notice I said “community” and not “co-op”. That’s because the term “co-op” generally connotates a bunch of images that I don’t want associated with our group. Things like harried children, joyless moms, isolated subjects, segregated children, various methods and the like. Instead, we strive for relationships with each of the students, joyful learning, attention as a habit, interested students, clear methods and a unifying philosophy.* Our community is a servant to our homeschools, not a master. Since each family involved is trying to implement the Mason philosophy at home, it ends up working beautifully.
We call ourselves Truth, Beauty, Goodness for a reason – Phillippians 4:8. “If we give our admiration, our faith, to ‘whatsoever things are lovely and of good report,’ if we ‘think on these things,’ and not on things unworthy, which we are free to depreciate, we shall be in a fair way to fix ‘well and wisely’ the admiration of the young people,” says Mason.
Our handicraft this week was using decoupage to make Enquire Within books!
May I suggest
the great use and value of a household book, in which the young
housekeeper notes down exactly how to do everything, from the scouring
of a floor to the making of an omelet, either as she has done it
herself, or has watched it being done, with the little special wrinkles
that every household gathers. Such an “Enquire Within” should be
invaluable hereafter, as containing personal experiences…Vol. 5, p. 259
I haven’t been around this craft technique since I watched my mother gabbing with a bunch of other moms at Mrs. Kostecka’s table sometime in the 70s. I recall lots of Holly Hobby pictures on plaster of Paris wall hangings. Read how we went about it at our handicraft teacher’s blog – Where the Blacktop Ends.
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| In the burdock den – girls doing nature study
A Burdock—clawed my Gown— -Emily Dickinson |
We have tweaked the schedule and it appears to work very well. Look under “The Schedule” at this link for the updated schedule.
So much more to tell about! I’ll save more for later posts. I am thankful that this is how our first week of school ended.
* (Please, I know there are wonderful co-ops out there – we are,
however, purposefully operating against the negative stereotypes.)
Hi Nancy,
Thank you so much for all of these posts. We actually spoke at the Grace to Build retreat in 2017, but we did not officially meet. A group of CM moms and I have been attempting to recreate your TBG community in our town as well. Our children range in age from 1 – 7, We have two children in form 1B and one in form 1A, so we have been trying to prioritize them and allow the little ones to explore outside with one or two of the moms. This seems necessary, but obviously seems lacking in the “community” aspect of the meetings. The children are so happy to get to see other kids that they have a hard time focusing on their lessons anyway. It feels quite forced and I am thinking we tried to do too much too young. I have not seen a place where you mention this specifically, so I am wondering if you can share how old your children were when you first began the community? I am sensing that the oldest were at least 10?
Dear Courtney,
How exciting that you are working towards a vibrant community in your area! When we began, we had 5 through 11 year olds participating. The prerequisite for attending was simply if the child could pay attention over the time of our meeting. That meant that some 8 year old boys weren’t ready but that some 5 year olds were. This is part of respecting the child as a person in that it wouldn’t be right to make a young child attend if they weren’t ready. And because we felt this was important, we required that other children would need to be with a sitter other than mom. While that sounds harsh to most homeschooler’s ears, this too was part of respecting those students hungry for knowledge and these bountiful meetings. And it was imperative for mom to participate in order to continue at home on the off weeks, as well as moms staying intellectually alive.
Yes, your group sounds lovely and young! Maybe consider working on building up those friendships and community. A book discussion group for moms? A Natural History club for all ages? Things that can easily be done all together like singing hymns and folksongs? You are wise to note that things feel “forced” and are thinking through why that is and what can be done about it.
I hope this is helpful and you are encouraged to keep on with this lovely group of families! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Warmly,
Nancy
Nancy,
Thank you for your thoughtful reply. I am amazed (and somewhat relieved) to know that your group employed sitters for those who couldn’t participate. This information is like gold to me and I am so thankful for your wisdom and generosity. I don’t know why I didn’t see it when it was posted, but in the midst of a somewhat discouraging year, this is exactly what I needed to hear. I look forward to sharing it with my group (which has grown… and we are still having babies!!).
Peace be with you,
Courtney
I am in the beginning stages of organizing a community and would love to hear if you divide the children into forms or if you all stay together. I'm finding myself stuck on this. Thanks!
Dear Melissa,
The TBG Community all stays together. We may occasionally do something different/more with the olders. Let me know if you have any other questions!
Warmly,
Nancy
What wonderful notebooks! I'm sure they'll be treasured by all for many years.
This post just breathes life. I appreciate the vision of homeschooling, community, and Charlotte Mason's brilliant ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Three cheers for community vs. co-op! I've been there and can relate.
Moms do come to a co-op with some expectations that they will find support and encouragement there. Yet, it may be intended simply and only as a place to obtain 'extra classes and socialization'.
'Community', on the other hand, seems to imply a unity and support in the particular focus of the group. I think you hit on something very important here!
Beautifully said. We're getting together with a few families this year for crafts, service projects, and day trips together. I so know what you are saying about how co-ops can end up feeling.
I'll be back for CM ideas and inspriation.
~Blessings
Eva,
Each mom and each child created their own book. Follow the link to see how. If something isn't clear – please ask here! Here is a link to the wikipedia article on the Enquire Within book. You can link through to the actual books. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enquire_Within_Upon_Everything
My son will be entering lego directions on how to build some of his creations, my daughter is entering recipes and weather lore, another is drawing how seeds germinate, etc. It's whatever strikes them that they want to record and remember! We bought sturdy, blank journals from Michael's or Hobby Lobby and the decoupage was really easy.
HTH,
Nancy
What a wonderful community building idea – love it! I also love the "Enquire Within" books and would love more information. Are these books the moms created or the kids? My DD would love to do something like this. Please tell us more. 🙂
Thanks for posting this! I've been turning around the idea of starting something other than a 'co-op' and really love the 'community' alternative. I hope you'll be posting more about what your community does!
Can't wait to read it, Jeannette! (It's not up yet.) You have such great ideas!
Love hearing about your co-op, er, community. I just posted some similar thoughts on the Childlight Blog about co-ops and what I am doing this year.