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| Edith Holden, The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady |
Winter Walks as Necessary as Summer Walks
The question of out-of-doors exercise in winter and wet weather is really more important…If the children are to have what is quite the best thing for them, they should be two or three hours every day in the open air all through winter, say an hour and a half in the morning and as long in the afternoon.
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| snow on the hydrangea |
Pleasures Connected with Frost and Snow
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| Our family diary, a perpetual calendar called Rosemary for Remembrance by Tasha Tudor |
I love the mention of this “family diary”. Here it seems to clearly be referencing nature observations. The only other place that I could find the term was in Vol. 5, p. 341 in reference to a young man who began a family diary in which each member would write in the language they were working on with hopes of mastering the different languages – another great idea! The diary we use sits open by the door on a writing desk and the children record nature happenings as well as social events and personal milestones- an interesting cornucopia of events which they deem most interesting.
Here is the way William Cowper describes some winter scenes in his poem The Task –
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| tin-punch lantern hanging from the stick hut |
Wishing you many fertile observations this winter,
Nancy
Does the family diary replace Individual books of firsts? I think we'd do better if we kept up One instead 5 individual ones.
This is exactly the issue that we have run into! (Please note that the family diary is only given one mention in her works.) Since the Nature Notebook is a must for each individual, some of my children keep their "firsts" in the back of this. A few of the kids who adore any kind of journal and love to write have their own "Book of Firsts" in addition to the Nature Notebook. But, just as a classroom might keep one Book of Firsts for the entire class, we have a "Family Diary" that all contribute to – even mom and dad. All the notebooks were not all kept at the same time in Mason's schools. There seems to be seasons when different books are used. I am just talking about what has worked well for us, yet is keeping in line with the examples and rationale behind Mason's use of notebooks.
From joy to joy,
Nancy
Family diary? Nancy, I think you just rocked my world! 🙂
Only a true Mason aficionado would have their world rocked by such an idea. I'm with you, Tammy!
From joy to joy,
Nancy
This is something that would be a family treasure. I loved the quote from Cowper. 🙂
Me too. You know, we need to read a lot more Cowper…
I'm over from the Carnival of Homeschooling. Love the idea of the family diary for nature and for other tidbits. I think it might help with the journaling habit if all shared writing a note from time to time. Lovely.
Beautiful observations. We are half way through our summer here is Aus and if you go here -http://eternityinyourheart.blogspot.com/2012/01/summer-lovin.html you will find just some of our summer observations. xxx
Thank you, Sarah. I enjoyed seeing what you are doing during your summer! I have to admit, though, I like winter and am enjoying the beauty of it. Just as long as it ends when I want it to…
From joy to joy,
Nancy
Great post! Since we starting using the Charlotte Mason method a few years ago we have all enjoyed getting outdoors in winter as never before. Amazing how you forget the cold toes when you see a cardinal on a yellow branch against a backdrop of snow!