Did you miss Don Rhymer’s workshop, A Main Course of Heroes, last year? So did we! For those who joined us last year, you know that Don spent most of the retreat sick in his room. We are thankful that he will be back this year to present this workshop on Saturday morning.
In addition, we are grateful that Jennifer Taylor will be presenting A Reading from the Book of Nature: A Devotional Guide for Families on Sunday morning.
You can learn more about all the breakout sessions on the CMER Website.
As the CMER team has planned and prayed for wisdom with the Mini-Retreat, we have grappled with the question about whether or not the lessons presented during the immersion morning should follow what Miss Mason outlines in the volumes or what happens in our homes.
Our answer: Both.
Building on the ground work of Art Middlekauff’s plenary on the Twenty Principles, we hope the immersion lessons will lift a weight off your shoulders as you see how the team has practically worked out Miss Mason’s ideas in our homes. The immersion will be a peek into our school day as we share where ideal meets real.
As we strive to keep Charlotte’s principles and methods in place, we know that in each home there are unique situations which impact how we practically implement them. Take a look into our school day – not through sanitized lessons that don’t reflect what really happens in our homes – but rather through captured moments of reality as we seek to encourage you to first and foremost trust the Holy Spirit as your guide, philosopher, and friend.
The Lessons
Bible
Hymn
Copywork
Geography
Composer Study
Literature
Picture Study
Nature Study
Poetry/Recitation
Shakespeare
During an immersion, we delve into several subjects that appear on lesson plans for elementary students, experiencing them from the student’s point of view. We read, listen, look, and narrate.
Something happens when you see Mason’s approach to lessons from this vantage point. You can see the principles at play in the lessons, and you empathize with your students. Attending and narrating is demanding; even more so when you’ve had little sleep or are in a room of strangers. These are situations that our students face, and taking in the view from their vantage point helps us see how we can better model, support, and encourage them.
If your kids are younger, this is a great time to catch a vision for what lies ahead.
And, if your kids are older, there is still value for you. Narration is narration is narration. Older kids are dealing with knowledge that may be more abstract, detailed, or complicated, but the need to attend to and reflect on the material until it becomes one’s own remains the same.
If you’ve never experienced a CM lesson as a student, we invite you to join us in February and take the plunge! The Mini-Retreat option includes a full morning of immersion lessons and a talk on Mason’s twenty principles with ’26 plenary speaker, Art Middlekauff.
I look forward to presenting Transcripts for a Charlotte Mason Educator. I had the opportunity to share this workshop at The Weekend of Living Ideas this past fall, and between the questions I received there and those that continue to come in by email, it is clear that Charlotte Mason families have a great need for support during the high school years.
Even though some of us will have an extra day together and there will be opportunities for consultations with Art Middlekauff and Jennifer Taylor, our time at the CMER will still feel short. With that in mind, I want to recommend a resource accessible to both local and nonlocal families.
The Christian Home Educators of Colorado offers an excellent seminar, High School and Beyond. I had the privilege of attending this seminar when my own family was on the verge of entering high school, and it was invaluable. It is available in person (Castle Rock, January 10th) as well as through on-demand recordings.
Several team members and speakers have walked the road to high school graduation and beyond. Collectively, we have experience with students who have pursued college, the military, and gap years. Many of the families attending the retreat bring their own rich experiences as well. For those seeking encouragement, we are eager for the many high school discussions that will take place throughout the retreat.
We hope to see you there!
You may learn more about Dawn on the CMER speaker page.