Homeschooling Only One
Monday, August 1, 2005 - My Narration of Ambleside Online Conference
Oh, first off it was MARVELOUS... and secondarily, be prepared to sit and read for a while... I tend to be very detailed... and thirdly, I want to apologize to any who I am not able to name names with -- I can see all your faces, but I don't always get the name - it takes me a while, but I was so grateful at the time for the name tags! (Both for Friday night fellowships and for Saturday itself.)
I arrived at the hotel about 3:05 or 3:10pm. (This was after driving for about an hour and a half: stopping at my dad's to leave my son & running an errand for him; missing the 45 exit heading north [NO warning - grr]; finding my way thru downtown Dallas to the Convention Center and calling my dh to come talk me back to 45; etc.) Check-in was 3pm and I am one to milk every second and millisecond out of time spent in a hotel since they are expensive. The room was great - the service fantastic, the front desk guy was wonderful, he was above-and-beyond the typical hotel desk person. Unpacked and settled in. I read the hotel info stuff (a tradition LOL), put on the tv and saw what channels were available, watched the History Channel for an hour or so. At 5pm, I got dressed for the pool and had it all to my lonesome for a good half hour, I'd say! I love to swim... I got about 12 laps done...
I met Colleen (spelling is not necessarily correct, again apologies all around!) from Georgia in the pool and we had a lovely time chatting... sat in the hot tub, but could never figure out where the "button" was... HA! I passed the Great Desk Guy and as I did, he asked how the pool was, and then I asked him about the spa controls... They WERE that white button thing in the tub's side... You're supposed to push it in and hold it in... oh well... LOL
Met Jeannette from Georgia in the lobby... and Jeannette, I kind of stuttered a bit at first, but you really have NO IDEA how much it blessed me (Blessed me to NO END) of referring to me as, "Oh! Donna C, Richard's mom!" *happy sigh* I think it disconcerted me for a moment, thinking perhaps that there was another Donna C out there with a Richard (as in living), so I had to add "mom of Mike"... but it touched me deeply... Anyway, she was seeing who wanted to go to dinner together so decided to meet back in lobby at 7pm, with no firm plans either way (just in case others had alternative plans).
Got back to the room about 6pm+ and got in the shower and got cleaned up, rinsed my hair, reapplied make-up, et al, expecting my wonderful Roomie Lora G (not sure if she wants her last name here) to arrive. The phone rang just as I had my hair wet in the sink - yup, it was Lora, but I didn't make it in time. She was in the lobby visiting with other AO attendees... I got myself together and down about quarter to 7 or so... Met several other ladies (and at least one husband)... Let's see we walked to the Mexican restaurant on the other side of the restaurant right next door to the hotel. Hmm, looking around the table, there was Paul & wife Glenna, Jeannette, Kathy of the SAS shoes (!), Deborah Miller, Colleen, Lora my Roomie, and me.... Lovely dinner... lots of conversations! (Hard to hear from one end to the other, but we all had a lovely time!) Back to the hotel about quarter to 10pm, or thereabouts.
Went up, got ready for bed and more chatting and visiting... lots of it! We settled down around 1:30am, I think.
Didn't hear our alarm but got up about 7:35am (had set it for 7am)... and got down to the lobby about 8:25am... meant to get there earlier, but it didn't work... Lora brought her 15 passenger van and it was just her & me! LOL Oh well...
Registration was a BREEZE - well done! Pre's were on the left and At the Door's on the right, with the T-shirt table on a bit on the right, before going into the main sanctuary doors... Giving everyone a post-it note at the registration tables to get what type of lunch we wanted was brilliant. GREAT JOB, Lynn and ALL OF THE HELPERS and EVERYONE who were involved in the set-up...
We were all in our places with bright shiney faces as close to 9 as possible and I belive began about 5 after, so it was very well done.... Large and beautiful church -- like a modern cathedral. (modern-type architecture - windows up like those in a cathedral, but no stained glass, lots of straight angles, so it had an austere look but wasn't uninviting at all... lovely signs up front showing their "mission" statements.) The chairs were padded and comfortable. Tables to the left representing the Advisory Board's family & such, with several tables further on, on the left, for everyone to share their things: photos, work, notebooks, etc.
Lynn Bruce did a great job of introducing the Advisory. (For those who don't know, please go and get acquainted with Ambleside Online website: http://www.amblesideonline.org/index2.shtml )
We sang Holy Holy Holy all acapella and it was so lovely... Heaven's gonna be a blast!
Leslie Noelani Laurio did a wonderful, first-time-to-speak, over view of how Ambleside came into being.
Then Lynn was in the process of introducing another of the Advisory to speak, and who do you supposed walked in!! "Charlotte Mason" herself!! LOL (aka Donna-Jean Breckenridge) I've been privileged to hear her speak as CM before (but only via video tape), so this was indeed a treat! (I believe that was our "special guest" they were "working on"...  ) Her whole talk was derived from Volume One and was wonderful, full Lake District accent, in full costume... Wonderful!
We took a 15 minute break at this point (about 10:30ish). Then Wendi Capehart and Karen Glass spoke on the Essential Element(s) of the CM Method. Primarily on books themselves and narration (what it is, how it can be done, etc.... ). Very good!
It was already time for lunch by this time, and our Jason Deli box lunches were waiting for us... just turn in your post-it note of what you were having (YUMMMM I had the chicken salad sandwich, fruit bowl, and choc. chip. w/nuts cookie).
The Q & A session was the last part of the lunch break and was wonderful... each lady of the Advisory at the table on the podium, answering questions that had been submitted before lunch (easier than having to point and try & hear from a possible 150+ attendees!). Helpful, "real" life, and informational... this was a winner on all accounts!
Our afternoon sessions began with Lynn Bruce and Karen Glass speaking on "Thoughts on Scheduling, Part I."
A few noteworthy comments (or at least what I took notes on, with a little "Donna C" in there too)....
Lynn shared:
Form a habit of grace - the schedule is to build character in our children, academics will follow. Do the hard subjects first in the day.
Don't forget they need fresh air, activity, and water!!
Dehydrated brains in the morning, with little water added are dehydrated brains all day long!
A schedule = opportunities to glorify God
We seek FIRST His kingdom and all these things on the schedule will follow...
All subjects were created by God.
Habit MAKES OR BREAKS.
Lynn started her very first day of homeschooling, by making cookies while sitting in a chair and directing her children in every step (including clean up!).... If they didn't pay perfect attention, they'd not have cookies (at all, or they might not taste like cookies!). Her second day she went thru the book, Encyclopedia of Bible Truths for School Subjects (by Dr. Ruth C Haycock) with the children, to show that God has a lot to say on ALL school subjects; why we should learn them, etc.
Her third day was when she actually began what others might call her first day of school, covering subjects with her children.
She also mentioned having "Velcro Days" -- have a child stick with you in ALL that you do until they are ready to give you perfect attention and obedience. (By the end of a week, they are usually more than ready for giving you what you want!)
Make sure you schedule in "unscheduled times" for your children. They need the time to digest, think, meditate, wander and wonder... (don't fill in every minute)
Your schedule is a means to an end... use it as such...
The Goal is RELATIONSHIP:
Relationship with subjects, yes, but also Relationship with each other (and with you), and Relationship with God.
Add the Magic Words of: I love you! I think you're wonderful!! I'm so glad you're mine!
Karen Glass spoke on Order (Schedules bring Order), using the word picture of a glass container... Fill it with so much sand, after that, small pebbles, then small rocks, and then several LARGE Rocks... The container won't be able to hold it all. Now, put the biggest item in first, the most important thing.... then the small rocks, then the pebbles, and now the sand... It all fits as the smaller items filter down and fill the empty space below and between the rocks.
Little things fill the space (and your time) fast, and it (space & time) won't have room for the Big stuff.
The most important student is ME... Plan for yourself so you can be growing and learning also. AND START WHERE YOU ARE! Don't worry that you're not at a certain spot yet or not...
There were several quotes I will have to add in after emailing Karen and several of the other ladies) to get the full quotes... cause I really liked them... so you'll have to tune in later for those! LOL
Donna-Jean Breckenridge spoke on Scheduling and Organizing and started with she is the most un- of these as any of us... It doesn't come naturally for her... Her thoughts were start a little at a time... Habit has to be developed... takes time...
Donna-Jean said:
A passion broken down into something small, done consistently, yields a harvest.
{{Dnna C note: Thanks to Katie at http://homeschoolblogger.com/bwktbarr/ for the actual quote above!!}}
She does more routines than schedules... Monday lunchtime is for Nature Study; Tuesday lunchtime is for art "appreciation", Another day for poetry, etc. She either eats before or after they eat, and then she is able to read to them, or discuss the painting.
(Art "Appreciation": Take a painting, show it to them, give them a few minutes to really study it, take it away and ask what they saw -- specific items there, then hang the painting up for the week for them to look at, be exposed to, talk about, make stories about the inhabitants of that painting.)
For poetry, she makes traditions... Memorial Day, they read Flanders Fields (the poem about D Day), for example...
Don't forget the OTHER SIDE OF NARRATION ...... it's LISTENING!
Do what you do for HIM - for the Lord! He's the Lord of the Harvest! (see quote above)... LEAN on Him!!
Wendi Capehart came up to share on Schedules also... She shared:
Aim high, but not so high it becomes a burden!
Everyone has their own situation... We can't judge ourselves (or others) because we all are in a different place.
Why can't I _____like ___ can? There are things in your life, that's why!
(And you need to be the YOU you are in/with & during those things!) God gave you the stamina and the family to walk thru what you are walking thru, WITH HIM, with His grace along with you. Others have different things and so they have to be the best THEM that they can be, in God's grace...
She enjoyed reading the Parents Review, a magazine put out a hundred+ years ago... She found moms asking the very SAME questions they do TODAY!
We also have to remember in our scheduling, that CM had school for SIX days, from 9am to 1pm, having lunch at 1pm, then having free time for the children in the afternoon. So often we want to be done by 12 noon... or make CM something it's not... {{Donna note: not that we are to go 6 days, unless we are called... She wasn't saying that! Or, at least, I didn't pick that up.}}
One proven, count-on-it fact: Whatever special circumstances you are in, they WILL change!
There is (and will never be) one perfect schedule.
Order (or Routine) - with no times, works for Wendi.
A Schedule is your Plan B -- it's not an assignment. Nothing BAD will happen if you don't stick with it, or skip something in a day... God gives us opportunities and that may mean putting aside Plan A, if Plan A is your Schedule... Make God's Plans, Plan A, and your plans, your schedule, Plan B.
Do what works for your family!
Scatter things throughout the day, stagger with activity, fine motor skills, gross motor skills, etc... including play time scattered thru out also.
Habit is VERY Important -- so START EARLY! (Habits are the tools of Self Control!)
Establish Lines of Habit now -- there will be a Harvest to reap later!
(She mentioned her 23 yos off to college who "didn't feel right if in the mornings, he didn't get into his Bible & prayer time first thing."
Formation of Habit is Education... and Education is Formation of Habit.
{{Donna C note: (she ended with a cool quote, that I couldn't get completely... will check and have to add it here...) }}
At this point we had another 15 min. break... it was already about 2:45 or there-abouts by now --- it certainly didn't feel like it at all! The whole Conference flew by... so full of information and fellowship...
After the Break, Donna-Jean Breckenridge and Lynn Bruce spoke...
Donna-Jean's portion was on An Atmospher and A Life. She shared real life and how she's not the "perfect" homeschool mom... she loses her temper, she messes up, etc...
{{Donna C note: Her reality and willingness to be vulnerable and real with whoever she is sharing makes her sooo much a part of the homeschooling community, but yet, she says that she feels "out of the loop" from that community sometimes. I think it's because she is real, and she has no idea how that comes across to her audience (of one or many). They can truly feel that she is "one of them"... A lot of articles out there show other hs'ers at their best light... Donna-Jean is brave enough and obedient enough to her Lord to share herself in her best light AND her worse light, and encourages us that we can aim and have moments and times of our best light... it's attainable... because she is real and if she couldn't do it, we couldn't... not that she says all that... but that's what I see and feel when I hear her talk.
EVERY ONE of the other ladies in the Advisory who spoke were vulnerable and REAL in every sense of the word also...I wouldn't want anyone to think that the other dear ladies were wearing a kind of mask, not sharing their real selves also... It was just that there is something about D-J that touches a chord within the hearts of those who hear her. ~~end of Donna C comment))
We don't want to live this life like "if I can just get thru this day, this week, this year..." etc.... We need to be reminded of Psalm 23 -- He makes me lie down... MAKES ME... it's not a necessarily a willing subject that's going to lie down the still waters and be restored!
The JOY OF THE LORD is YOUR STRENGTH!
The Joy of the Lord is part of my responsibility also! We have to take the joy upon us...accept it, allow it, put it on....
Paul thanked God... and took courage. (Taken from Acts 25:15)
Good things are easy; Hard things are hard!)
We have a LOT to praise the Lord for... We can ALWAYS praise Him for Who He is...
PRAISE and Worry/Fear can't COEXIST!
Take that verse and put your name into it... "Donna C thanked God... and took courage."... You do it too!
Let this be the year where the Joy of the Lord is MY Strength!
Lynn Bruce got to follow Donna-Jean... (grin)
She spoke on The Large Room... The Big Picture... it's where you're going with a CM education.
The question is not, - how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education... but how much does he care? And about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? And therefore, how full is the life he has before him?
{{Donna C note: Thanks to Lorraine on the Ambleside elist for the full quote!
and to Wendi C for the reference: Volume 3, pages 170, 171. }}
Putting your child's feet into a big room... (taken from Scripture)
Our aim in education is to give a full life. --- CM Quote
Life should be all LIVING and not just getting thru to the end...
Give a diet of GREAT IDEAS...
CM quote: (p.331) "My mind a kingdom is."
Life does not need to be seen as a tedium -- a kingdom is a very large room.
Kinship of Common Knowledge - you share with your children... True conversation can happen around your dining table, not a life of children in each separate room with no one connecting with each other, and possibly even with themselves...
Relationships -- it's all about...
JOY
Have FUN with your familyies!
Don't be caught up in the busyness!
Remember to just sit with your children! They will come to you...
Instigate a TEA TIME -- sitting with children, hold them til THEY let you go, make yourself available...
The wedding china collecting the dust of idolatry --- USE THEM!
Do stuff that the ___YOUR___ Family does... Make Family Traditions...
Family traditions held together each individual man who came out of Vietnamese imprisonment camps without much "post traumatic syndrome" when they returned...Those who returned who didn't have many problems... they were studied to find out how and why they came out better than others did. It was the traditions they remembered, that they mentally lived vicariously, knowing this was Christmas Day and his family was _____ing at that time... helped them to persevere....
You have to care to have Family Traditions.
Lynn mentioned having Ceilidh (pronounced as Kay-Ley), it means a Scottish party, but more than just a party... Attendees have to come prepared to contribute entertainment for the party!
Feast with your family! See how many times Feasts are mentioned in the Bible... they are times to be together, to rejoice, to feast... to rejoice with each other, to make those ties that bind...
In Ecc., Solomon found that you have to Find joy with the wife of your youth (think: family), find joy in what your hands do, find joy in food and drink...
Respect, love, have conversations with one another in your family.
Relationships = Connections
Great long quote to be updated later:
Mind is a spiritual octopus....
Ok, and that was the conference... we had a lovely hour plus reception (4-5+), eating wonderful snacks... cream puffs... the Oatmeal Raisin cookies I want the recipe for!!... tea, both sweet and unsweet, lemonade... cookies, crackers and cheese and fruit... Lots of wandering about and meeting, greeting, and sharing with one another...
I missed Patti from Mississippi... I looked for you.. but it was very difficult!
From the church, we (my roomie, Lora G and Janice from Georgia in the 15-passenger van) to Andrea's home just minutes away from the church for a fellowship -- if there weren't 100 there, it was VERY close... people upstairs and downstairs... EVERYWHERE! LOL Pizza, salad, and dessert goodies were shared, with lots of different carbonated drinks....
Leslie Smith is one of the Advisory members. I knew she looked VERY familar -- and so she should have ... she SAT with me and my friend at our table at the Cindy Rushton Seminar 3-5 years ago held in Frisco, TX! LOL I'm sure I made her night, when it dawned on me that we sat next to each other and talked a lot with each other! She had mentioned meeting me at Cindy's seminar and then I knew I had met her there, but then when the recognition kicked in -- I was like... "YOU! YOU! I SAT NEXT TO YOU at our little table of three!!!" LOLOLOL)
I got to sit and share & talk with both Karen and Donna-Jean, whom I've known for years via the internet... It was sooo good... and finally able to go to Wendi Capehart just as we had to walk out the door, for her to exclaim "YOU'RE DONNA C!!" And I thought I was just an old, dusty memory to her! LOL (It's been a very long time since I've posted on the CMason elist!)
Back to the hotel... (well, dropped Janice off at her car at the church and then caravaned the short distance back to the hotel.) While I brought my things in from the van, there was a couple in the lobby... We smiled and greeted each other... She asked if I had come from the fellowship (which identified her as a fellow-conference attendee), and I ended up putting my stuff down to visit... They live in Austin (or San Antonio? ahh, I'm glad I'm writing this down! LOL The details will be much more hazy otherwise! LOL), have a 2 yog that they will be homeschooling. They also shared that they are with child, due in December... OH joys to come for them! I shared a lot about homeschooling only one (before they made their announcement, but they will be hs'ing one for a bit for a while with a toddler underfoot), shared my book with them and gave them a flyer... not to "make a sale" but to be available to them if they ever feel the need to contact me... (Since my email is on my website, and my website is listed on the flyer.)
I was so impressed with both husband and wife (who I can't remember their name), this young couple were doing their homework, checking out various methods and styles of hs'ing before they even got into actually doing it. (Well, doing it officially - I think ALL mothers & fathers of children from birth to "school age" are homeschooling!!!)
They were thinking of going for ice cream and invited me to come along, then here came Deborah Miller and her dh & dd (hs'ing one also), heading for Starbucks... They stopped; I introduced the young couple with Deborah Miller and her family, and we all talked for a time... then the talk of coffee or ice cream was discussed again, and I decided that I was getting tired and ready to call it a night... (it was almost 10pm by then and it felt like 11 or midnight to me). So to the room for me... I don't know if they all went together or not...
Lora was on her cell phone when I got back and we got the snackies out... I was hungry, as I'd only had one piece of pizza for dinner at Andrea's -- too much going on, doncha know?? LOL I think we settled down about 2:30am... and then slept til 9:30! LOL I called for late check-out and that was fine... We napped a while longer as we woke up slow... so nice to be with someone who understands the concept of "not a morning person"! LOL Ate the breakfast items we brought and leisurely got ready to leave, packed, etc... leaving at 1:30pm.
I headed for my dad's and picked up son Mike, ran an errand for dad, and headed for home... got there about 5:30pm or 6pm... TIRED... I slept close to 12 hours last night (and went to bed at 9:15pm!! and so did Mike -- it's late nights while at Gramps'! LOL)
So there's my narration.... I still have the finishing touches of a newsletter to do... waiting on someone's input (hopefully today)... then there'll be a break in newsletters until the middle of the month... but I'll be packing again in 2 days! Heading for the exit just south of where I was this weekend, for the Plano Book Fair and my first booth!
Hope you had the time to read all this! and I hope it blessed you!!
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Monday, August 1, 2005 - Untitled Comment
I followed the link from the Ambleside Online email list to your blog. I know you from Living, Loving @ Home (I was "gentlespiritmom"). I haven't been there for a L-O-N-G time--just really needed to cut back on the boards I visit. In the mean time I have discovered blogging and really love it.
I appreciate your post on the AO conference. The detail is awesome and I look forward to returning often to re-read and experience the conference vicariously through you! LOL
You can check my blog out here if you like although I do the majority of my blogging at Xanga (there is a link on my site here to the site there).
Blessings to you. It is great to get reacquainted with you. I will add you to my friends list and return often.