What a glorious time of year!  In my part of the world, God’s creation is singing in brilliant colors and crisp notes.  In honor of His magnificent show, I thought I’d center the theme around bits and pieces of Autumn Beauty.  Enjoy the wonderful articles!

Nature Study

Julee from Abundant Harvest shares her family’s awesome nature study that came from an injured monarch in Nature Study – Butterfly.

Alicia from La Famille gives a great tutorial for making a dye from black walnut shells in Nuts About Dye!

Ritsumei from Baby Steps shares about her family’s recent trip to their local nature preserve in Critters and Moss.

Kris from At Home Science provides a nice list of living books and such for anyone planning to study rocks, soil or the earth in Geology Study Resources.

Barb at Handbook of Nature Study shares about one of her nature challenges in Outdoor Hour Challenge Autumn Series – Seasonal Weather.

Yours truly is sharing an article from Shining Dawn Books about Nature Study with a Toddler or Preschooler.

Art/Picture Study

Dana from Epi Kardia takes us on a how-to journey through picture study in Charlotte Mason Mondays – Picture Study.

I’d like to share a recent picture study resource review I wrote at The Curriculum Choice about Dover Art Cards as well as our latest artist study activities in The Thinker and Other Rodin Fun.

Living Literature

Keri from Sunny Scholars helps unmuddy the waters when it comes to finding good literature that’s also friendly to beginning readers in Readers.

Amber from The Mommy Earth shares how she and her children enjoyed a cozy reading time together in Book Review: Five Little Peppers.

Kris from Science of Relations provides a set of living literature for our reading enjoyment that focuses on history in Westward Expansion: Santa Fe Trail.

Jimmie from Jimmie’s Collage reminds us that even older children enjoy picture books, and she’s found several goodies in Picture Books for Middle School.

Science/History

Heather from Maple Hill Academy shares how she has implemented a family time line in Book of Years.

Barb from Harmony Art Mom shows us how she uses a traditional teaching text with CM flair in Apologia Physical Science with a CM Style.

Super Odds and Ends

Penny from Our Crazy Adventures in Autismland! gives us a glimpse into habit training in Bedtime Routine into Habit.

Richele from Under the Golden Apple Tree reminds us of the importance of leisure time in Masterly Inactivity.

Johnna from Living Charlotte Mason in California is the perfect ending to a cool weather carnival as she shares about her family’s adventure making Autumn Butternut Soup.

Thank you so much for visiting the Charlotte Mason Carnival today!  Richele from Under the Golden Apple Tree will be hosting next time on November 17th.  I hope you’ll consider submitting an article!  Until next time, I hope your autumn days are spent in thankfulness to our Creator for His bounty!

Related posts:

1. Charlotte Mason Carnival – Peaceful Winter Edition
2. Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: "Love"liness Edition
3. Charlotte Mason Carnival – Back To School Planning Bash

Suddenly the sky turned gray,

The day,

Which had been bitter and chill,

Grew soft and still.

Quietly

From some invisible blossoming tree

Millions of petals cool and white

Drifted and blew,

Lifted and flew,

Fell with the falling might.

~Melville Cane

Welcome to the first edition of the Charlotte Mason Carnival in 2009!  You sure are in for a treat as there are over 30 posts to savor and enjoy.  I know there are gems to be found in every CM Carnival, but this one is full of really great posts!  I hope you’ll take the time to encourage each one of the writers with a kind comment.  Enjoy!

Thinking About a New Start to the Year

Jimmie of One Child Policy Homeschool shares her new scheduling plans in Rotation Scheduling for Our Homeschool.  She also shares an eye opening post about living math in Living Math is Not Quick or Neat.

Dana from School For Us gets us thinking about being passionate homeschoolers in Great Teachers.

Penny from Our Crazy Adventures in Autismland! reviews her learning goals for the new year in Task #64 Make 1 yr and 5 yr Homeschool Plans.  She continues the planning as she shares Our New School Schedule!  WooHoo!  I am on a roll!!

Sandy from Falling Like Rain has been rethinking some things for the upcoming school year, too, and shared them in A Peek Inside My Planner.

Makita of Twinkling Stars Family School reviews last semester’s plans and makes goals to improve on a few things in Change of Direction – Mid Year Review.

Christin of Journey to a Gracious Woman has written a post about all the CM goals she has for the upcoming months in As We Resume School.

Jennefer of Smooth Stone Academy is just beginning her journey into CM style learning.  She shares some of her thoughts in Learnings From Miss Mason.

Our CM Carnival organizer deserves a big thank you in her comment section!  Jamie from Rose CottageIntentional Homeschooling shares some of her thoughts about school and life in .

Preschool

The Queen of Carrots from Introducing the World talks about Charlotte Mason’s ideas on reading books versus storytelling with preschoolers in Tell, Don’t Show.

I have a busy toddler in the house who can make school challenging (to say the least!)  I’ve written a post called Taming the Toddler to remind myself of things to keep him meaningfully busy while the big kids are involved in school work.

Habit Training

Anne of French Kids Don’t Get Fat takes an interesting look at Charlotte Mason’s thoughts on reward systems as they relate to getting our children to eat well in How You Might Be Teaching Your Child to Hate the Very Foods You Most Want Him to Eat.

Teaching Ideas

Lapbooking has become a popular method of recording lessons learned.  Lynn from Eclectic EducationChristmas Lapbook shares one of her son’s latest creations and links in .

Artist and Composer Study

Kris from Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers presents Simple Artist and Composer Studies at Homeschool Bliss.

Barb from Harmony Art Mom gets us thinking about a topic we may or may not have ever considered in Art Books-How to Deal with Nudity.

Patti from Charlotte Mason in America gives tips about artist study, including some nice links, in Art.

Melissa of Living Life Between the Trees had me chuckling as I read her post about artist study in Do Art (Not Crafts).

Amanda from Hearts and Trees continues her watercolor tutorial series in Watercolor Techniques #8 Watercolor Splatters.

Handicrafts

5intow from Delighting in His Richness gives a wonderful paper quilling tutorial in Giving and Quilling.

Living Learning

Kris of At Home Science has started a new blog called Education is the Science of Relations.  She shares an interesting post about twaddle free viewing and listening in Living Media.

Molly of Counter-Culture School shares a post from her series about living literature in Whatever is Noble: Hero Stories.

Nature Study

Jonnia of Giggles, Wiggles and Wonder takes us on an impromptu nature study in Unofficial Outdoor Hour.

Julie of Homeschooling Ideas gets us thinking about displaying nature finds in Homeschool Nature Table.

Melissa from In the Sparrow’s Nest gives us some great winter activity ideas in Snowflake Craft and Project – Paper Snowflakes and Borax Snowflakes.  She also encourages us to get outside and enjoy winter in Winter Nature Study.

Barb shares a post encouraging a winter nature study of birds in Watching Sparrows and Learning Their Habits on her nature blog Handbook of Nature Study.

Candace from His Mercy is New shares all sorts of snowy ideas in A Winter Nature Study.  She also shows a wonderful idea for keeping nature study memories in A Nature Scrapbook.

Shannon from Song of My Heart gives several practical and fun ideas for studying nature this season in Winter Nature Fun!

Theresa of Grace Like Rain also gives several practical and fun ideas for nature study this season in Winter Nature Study.

Jacci (if you’ll remember as the founder of the Charlotte Mason Carnival) is back with a new blog called Understanding Charlotte.  She shares a post about getting outside in winter in Winter Nature Walks (a.k.a. a mother self-talks through the PNEU motto to combat her SAD and get her grumpy self outside).

And believe it or not, there’s one more exciting thing to tell before this carnival wraps up…. Barb from Handbook of Nature Study has come up with a plan to help us all get ourselves moving with winter nature study.  It’s called Winter Wednesday.  Click on the button to see what it’s all about.  I hope to be able to join Barb and many of you some weeks!

Ladies, thanks for starting off 2009 with such a great carnival full of practical Charlotte Mason ideas!  I pray 2009 is a year full of wonderful memories with your children.  Take time to snuggle with them during these peaceful winter days.

Nest of Pleasant Thoughts will be hosting the next CM Carnival in two weeks.  Be sure to submit a post here.

Related posts:

1. Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: "Love"liness Edition
2. Charlotte Mason Carnival – Back To School Planning Bash
3. Charlotte Mason Carnival – Thankful Homeschooling

Her question:

What do you do personally to renew yourself when the schedule outside of school gets hectic? You know – when things are beyond your control like funerals, sickness in the family, elderly people needing help — situations you find yourself involved in at a time when the personal bank of energy and patience are low.

My answer:

I’ve been thinking on your question today and chuckled out loud a few times as I thought, “Who in the world am I to answer such a question??!!”  I’m totally overwhelmed and feel like my life is spinning out of control right now.  I’m chalking up my craziness as a “season” of life and trying to remember that life will become normal again.  Anyway, I’ll give my best answer….

You know what I’m gonna say – - when outside things start pressing, we have to be able to say “no”.  Easier said than done, I know.  Your family won’t appreciate a “no”.  Your church won’t like hearing “no”.  Your friends might not even care to hear the word.

I used to try to be at every funeral, fix a dish for every funeral dinner, work to help serve the funeral meal, send a card to the grieving family….You get the point.  Multiply that by sick people, the elderly, church ministries, friends, family, birthday parties, church parties, co-op classes, co-op food……I was getting to the point where my own family was getting pushed into the background.  Then I read a book called Having a Mary in a Martha World and it really opened my eyes.  I have two responsibilities that I know are God-given – my husband and my children.  God may call me to other things as well, but He hasn’t called me to everything.

Long story short, I quit everything I could at church.  I stopped offering to be the person to “ask if you need anything.”  And I learned to say no to just about anyone who asked. 

Now, if I choose to fix a meal for someone, I usually go in with one or two others to take the load off.  I very rarely agree to any long term ministry “opportunities” at church.  I try to send cards to people, but don’t get around to visit much.  I bring chips to co-op rather than a five course meal.  I help at the funeral meal only if everything else is in order.

I’m far from having all this figured out.  I feel guilty about how much more service I should be doing.  I feel guilty for not meeting everyone’s needs.  But like I mentioned earlier about the season of life I’m in right now, I know there will come other seasons when serving people outside my family will be easier.

When I do have to do certain things, though, I always try to involve the kids.  Serving others is a wonderful addition to the curriculum!  At least those times when other need us can be shared with our kids!!

Well, that’s my two cents.  I’m an utter failure at meeting anyone’s needs (except Eli’s) right now, so take my words with a grain of salt.    As for the idea of renewal….hmmm….I don’t think I know what that word means.  Maybe if I had one single solitary minute to myself, I might be able to breathe.  That could be renewing.  Or exercise.  Or send my kids away for a weekend.  Or send myself away for a weekend.  Or get a massage.  Okay, back to reality.  I ain’t goin’ anywhere until this kid stops nursing!  Do you think he’ll ween himself by sixteen??

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by George Reavis

Once upon a time the animals had a school. They had four subjects ~ running, climbing, flying, and swimming ~ and all animals took all subjects.

The duck was good at swimming, better than the teacher, in fact. He made passing grades in running and flying, but he was almost hopeless in climbing. So they made him drop swimming to practice more climbing. Soon he was only average in swimming. But average is okay, and nobody worried much about it ~ except the duck.

The eagle was considered a troublemaker. In his climbing class he beat everybody to the top of the tree, but he had his own way of getting there, which was against the rules. He always had to stay after school and write, “Cheating is wrong” five hundred times. This kept him from soaring, which he loved. But schoolwork comes first.

The bear flunked because they said he was lazy, especially in winter. His best time was summer, but school wasn’t open then.

The penguin never went to school because he couldn’t leave home, and they wouldn’t start a school out where he lived.

The zebra played hooky ~ a lot. The ponies made fun of his stripes, and this made him very sad.

The kangaroo started out at the top of the running class, but got discouraged trying to run on all fours like the other kids.

The fish quit school because he was bored. To him all four subjects were the same, but nobody understood that. They had never been a fish.

The squirrel got A’s in climbing, but his flying teacher made him start from the ground up instead of the treetop down. His legs got so sore practicing take-offs that he began getting C’s and D’s in running.

But the bee was the biggest problem of all, so the teacher sent  him to Dr. Owl for testing. Dr. Owl said that the bee’s wings were just too small for  flying and besides they were in the wrong place. But the bee never saw Dr. Owl’s report, so he just went ahead and flew anyway.

A question I hear quite often is, “Am I really qualified?  Am I going to ruin my children by schooling them at home?”

This is the topic of a devotion I gave in the Mom’s Room at co-op this week.  I’ve tried to write my notes from the devotion here.  I hope you are encouraged.

When God calls us to something, He will qualify us!  At that answer, I could end the devotion.  God called us to it, He equips us, therefore, we’re qualified!  But, I want to answer more thoroughly why and how we’re qualified.

Go back to the Animal School story above.  Who knows your children best?  Who can instinctively know what’s best for them?  Who loves them as much as you do?  Who did God give them to?  Knowing that “Mom and Dad” are the answers to each of those questions is further proof that YOU are qualified to teach them.  No one else knows them well enough to know what’s best for them.  For them particularly.  No one on this earth loves them like you do.  No one.  God gave them to you.  You.  You are the one who can make their education a perfect fit.  Not because you have a college degree in education or have loads of money to buy the best curriculum, but because God has already given you everything you need to teach the children He gave you.

If you’ve never watched the YouTube.com video called Home Where They Belong, I would encourage you to take a few minutes right now.   It’s a strong visual to get this point across.

You know the news headlines.  Christianity is being forced out of the public school system, only to be replaced with a religion of tolerance, evolution, relativism and worse.  Even Christian teachers in the public school system are forced to teach things that go against the Lord’s teaching.  At best, they can subtly mention God as long as other religious views are being expressed at the same time.  These facts alone qualify you to teach your children.  Jeremiah 10:2 says, “Thus saith the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.”

You have been given unique gifts in your children.  God has commanded that you teach them.  And, He has supplied you with all you need to do this successfully.  Homeschooling isn’t always easy.  It isn’t always fun.  But the rewards are great and the impact is eternal.

Go to the Word when you’re frustrated.  Go to your husband.  Go to an experienced and well-rooted friend.  Please don’t meet the yellow school bus at the end of the driveway.

Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.  Ephesians 6:4

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Do your children ever feel like their school work is pointless?

Show pride in your children’s work by displaying it. Make them feel like their work is worth every bit of the effort they put into it. We want them to feel a sense of pride about what they do, right? We want them to take the time to do their best work, right? My children used to actually say, “What does it matter, nobody but you sees it?”

So I started making a bigger deal of some of their work. When a piece sticks out to me as being extra well-done, or I know they’ve put a ton of effort into something, I’ll put it up in our “gallery”. It’s just a space we have in a stairwell that I reserve for their things only. I change it out frequently and make a big deal of it when company happens to pass by.

Here’s a fairly recent picture of our gallery.

Another thing I started doing was making notebooks and lapbooks more beautiful. In other words, we have a lovely place to store the work, making it seem more special to them. I’m also going to suggest that our co-op have some sort of “Bring Your Best Work” showcase next year. And ask our local library to allow our group to display projects for a week or two. Both of these should give the kids a extra boost of “somebody cares”.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to bribe my children into doing their work well. Nor am I trying to make them feel that they have to have kuddos for everything they do. I’m just trying to make sure that their work is applauded once in awhile. I believe their efforts deserve that. I hope you find exciting ways to encourage your children! I’d love to hear your ideas!!

Related Tags: school work, homeschooling, encouragement

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-Have I filled in the little box on my lesson plans for every subject today?

-We need to be finished with the botany unit by Christmas because we MUST cover zoology this year, too.

-Will my daughter really be prepared for 5th grade math next year if we skip over a 4th grade Saxon lesson here and there?

You get the idea.

Overall, I believe myself to be a very relaxed homeschooler.  I don’t mind skipping redundant lessons in a workbook.  I don’t mind chucking a workbook for a more real-life approach.  I don’t mind changing plans at a moment’s notice for a field trip or a friend in need.  But, it never fails, every year about this time I find myself having to stop and get myself back on the right track.  I don’t know how I slowly become a slave to the workbooks and my lesson plans as the fall semester goes on, but I sure do!

Let’s just say that the articles on this site have helped me to regain my focus.  You will be blessed!

http://www.homeschooloasis.com/lol_main_pg.htm

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Whatever the answer to our rut, I know God will put us back on track soon.  He always has, and there have been many ruts in the road on our journey so far.  The hardest part about a rut is that Satan loves to find you in one.  For me, that’s the time when he sends the nay-sayers my way.  You know, the people who would love to talk you out of homeschooling, who play the 20 question game with you about “why in the world you’ve chosen to homeschool??”, the ones who say “Of course you’re in a rut, you’re with your children 24/7!!”

But, again, God has always been good!  He has given me faithful homeschooling friends and a strong husband who are able to remind me WHY we do what we do and how important it is to keep moving westward in our journey.  It’s not always easy homeschooling, it’s not always easy even being a Christian in this world of ours – but I know that God has called us to do what others might see as silly or futile.  And what God calls me to, I know He will be faithful to pull me through.

I love being home with my children.  I just have to be reminded sometimes about how much I love it!

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