I love the Charlotte Mason philosophy of educating children, but it doesn’t all come naturally to me. I can do the Living Books part just fine and I love poetry, but Nature Walks, Art Study, Habits, those are all foreign concepts to me. I remember reading Karen Andreola’s book as a brand-new homeschooler and thinking, “How lovely, but I could never pull that off.” I don’t know how to crochet myself, so how am I going to teach my kids to crochet? I don’t know anything about plants, what am I even supposed to be looking at when we go on Nature Walks? I can’t draw, what use is a Nature Sketchbook? And then I would think of my mom, my wonderful Charlotte Mason mom.
My mom, always half a mile behind me on our hikes through the woods because she had noticed a fascinating little plant and stopped to examine it.
My mom, who thinks the phrase, “Take only photos and leave only footprints,” is nonsense and constantly digs up interesting plants to replant in her own garden.
My mom, who can crochet, knit, cross-stitch, and sew beautifully.
My mom, on her way to becoming a Master Gardener, who also cans and makes homemade grape jelly from Concord Grapes grown in her back yard.
My mom, always filling our minds with stories from fabulous living books.
My mom, amateur botanist who always knows how a particular plant depends on a particular insect and “isn’t it amazing how God designed them to work together like that?”
My mom, full of spiritual insight and thought-provoking analogies.
My mom, once 14 hours away, now just across town.
Watching an inch-worm.  |
