Reflections on the Childlight Conference

So I've been home a week from attending the Childlight Charlotte Mason Conference and had some time to process. 

It took me a week - and I'm still processing.

There was sooooo much information and so much going on in my brain and heart that it is difficult to put into words but for my sake (and anyone else who cares), I really want to write out some of my thoughts.  Bear with me as this will not be a smoothly flowing post but more chunks of thoughts.

First of all I have to admit that part of my excitement at going to this 4 day conference was eating 9 meals that I did not have to cook, clean up or serve and got to eat while the food was still hot.  Not to mention that once I sat down to eat I did not have to get up again unless it was to get myself more dessert - which I did several times.  I did not have to remind anyone to eat with their mouth closed, tell anyone not to put their feet on the table or explain why we do not use a green bean as a mustache.  To those of you who are mothers you will understand my sheer excitement at this aspect of the conference. Mealtime bliss!

I was also excited to be with two of my best friends and be around other women who share my obsession passion for Charlotte Mason. 

Funny thing - I thought I was passionate.  Some of these ladies were official Charlotte Mason groupies!  :)

So after the first group lecture, which reminded me how long it has been since I have had to actually stretch my brain and understand words bigger than 2 syllables, we went to hear the teens/college students talk about their experiences growing up with Charlotte Mason.  My hubby particularly wanted me to go to this event as he wants to make sure our kids don't turn out looking too much like the Duggars (I however would love my kids to be like the Duggar kids - think they would just adopt our family? - what's a few more?) 

To say we left there blown away would be an understatement.  These kids were articulate, poised, funny, down to earth, thoughtful in their speech and excited about their home education.  They shared their love for books, authors, their families, extra-curricular activities and education.  They answered our questions and encouraged us.

The biggest thing I took away from them was the one thing that ALL the college kids said - the biggest help to them in college was NARRATION!!   Now I have poured over book lists, nature study ideas, composers, timelines, foreign language - all trying to make sure I am well prepared when it comes time for us to start school.  But narration?  I just thought of it as what we will use to help make sure the boys understand what they are reading - almost like the quiz at the end of the passage. 

Boy was I wrong.  The kids all talked about how important their narrations were and how as they listened to a professor talk they would narrate to themselves.  They didn't need to take a whole lot of notes or have crazy cramming sessions before exams because simply by narrating to themselves they were fermenting the information into their brains and rewording it so they could understand and remember.  They talked about how growing up with CM and learning how to listen and read passages (which got longer as they got older) and then narrating the important and meaningful parts to their parents or themselves or in their notebooks had prepared them to listen to long lectures and retain the information.  I cannot stress enough how much importance they put on this!  I am definitely going to research the narration thing a little more and make sure I understand.  Actually, in several sessions I attended the instructors had us narrate and since we haven't started schooling yet, it was particularly helpful for me to get an idea of how narrations works.   I discovered the whole read it once and narrate thing is harder than I thought it would be.  You really have to pay attention!!

Another session was about Paper Trails - all the various notebooks that Charlotte talked about.  This session was somewhat overwhelming and would have been nice to have in a longer session as there was sooooo much information.  It was great to see examples of some of the different notebooks instead of just reading about them, however a little stressful to think about doing all those notebooks.  Luckily most are geared towards the older crowd who should be able to do most of them on their own.  The biggest "aha" for me in this session was the time line structure.  I love time lines and comparing different people and things that happened at the same time - making those connections.  However the instructor talked about how to start our kids in the time line/book of centuries process and it made sooo much sense!!  When the child is 8 or 9 make a horizontal time line on a poster size piece of paper that starts with their birth year and goes to the current year.  Then put in important events in their life that had to do with them, then add family events, then local events, then national and international events.  This helps the child see where they are in relation to (1)their family, (2)community, (3)country and (4)world.  You can then possibly make a larger timeline that goes back maybe 50 or 100 years and add in events.  This takes the child from what they have experienced (their life) to what they have read about.  It's all about helping them realize their place in God's plan!

I went to several other great sessions - Drawing for Dummies, Handicrafts, Natural History and Geography and others, however I'm going to end with putting two sessions together as they sum up what I came away with.  Dr. Carroll Smith (a professor at Gardner-Webb and the engineer behind this conference) spoke about the principles of a Charlotte Mason Education and Nancy Kelly (love her blog Sage Parnassus) had a session on Citizenship.  These two sessions really clarified for me why I love Charlotte Mason's education philosophy. The quotes are loose quotes based on my frantic note taking.

It isn't about filling up my children's brains with information.  It isn't about finding the right curriculum.  It isn't about whether they can score well on standardized tests or rattle off the President's names in order or know all their capitals.  It's about "awakening our children with the knowledge of God, Man and World and turning their minds and souls towards truth."(Dr. Smith)

This is the basis of Charlotte Mason's philosophy and where her educational theories differ from other philosophies and curriculum.  She believed that children were born persons, images of God and that our responsibility was to awaken them to this concept.  All our books, activities, curriculum choices, field trips - they should all build on this concept of awakening our children to who they are as a child of God, not telling them, but providing them with books that allow them to come to these conclusions on their own - much more meaningful than having an adult tell you it is so!  The literature they read should "improve their thoughts and ideas and language as it relates to knowing God, others and themselves." (Dr. Smith)  What they learn, this knowledge, is "information touched with emotion" (either Nancy or Charlotte :)   I believe it was Charlotte who said, "magnanimity is the proper outcome of education" (Magnanimity as defined by Noah Webster in his 1828 dictionary - Greatness of mind; that elevation or dignity of soul, which encounters danger and trouble with tranquillity and firmness, which raises the possessor above revenge, and makes him delight in acts of benevolence, which makes him disdain injustice and meanness, and prompts him to sacrifice personal ease, interest and safety for the accomplishment of useful and noble objects.) 

THAT'S WHAT I WANT FOR MY CHILDREN!!!

This is why I love Charlotte Mason.  When I felt God calling me to homeschool I did not feel inspired at all.  I thought, "Well, I guess I'll look at different curriculum and choose one to use."  That did not excite me.  I am so thankful that before I wasted any time God put Charlotte Mason in front of me.  I will never forget that evening that I first started reading about her and her ideas.  I was on a high.  I was in love.  I was excited to homeschool.  This is what I wanted for my boys - to love the Lord, love to learn and love good books.  To love their fellow man, their country and their duty.  I don't want to just educate them, I want to watch God shape them into magnanimous men.  

I can't wait.

Thank you Charlotte!!