The CMP Review — Week of November 6

November 6, 2023

Rescuing and mending books, one spine at a time! As Mrs. Honey wisely reminds us, “Whatever be the size of the library, I would suggest that the books be well and strongly bound” (PR2, p. 792). Mending the spine on a book extends its life and restores it to a condition to be able to handle many more readers to come.

@tessakeath

November 7, 2023

“Who among us did not consider our goals for our children and students when we began educating them along the lines of Miss Charlotte Mason?” asks Jennifer Talsma in her poignant introduction to the final Parents’ Review article in our series on the upper years: a 1936 article written by Mrs. Claudia Shelley, graduate of the House of Education.

Mrs. Shelley takes the long view of education and highlights three challenges all of our graduates will face:

(1) How to earn her living.
(2) How to form principles which will guide her aright through the chaos of modern ideas.
(3) How to live fully.

Shelley explains how the complete program of a Charlotte Mason education prepares young people for these three great challenges of life. Whether you are just beginning the homeschool journey, or are in the mature years, this article along with Jennifer Talsma’s editor’s note will provide ideas for your mind and inspirations for your heart. Find it here.

@artmiddlekauff

November 8, 2023

November is a great month for watching the night sky! Here are just a few of the celestial events:

Jupiter was clear and beautiful as its position between the Earth and Sun made it brightly illuminated on November 3rd.

We’re in for more treats with the Moon and planets, though!

On November 9th a delicate crescent Moon passes in front of Venus. For those of us in North America, our best viewing time is right before dawn to see the moon resembling a smile with Venus as a beauty mark. Both Saturn and Jupiter also have close approaches to the Moon with Saturn on the 20th and Jupiter on the 25th.

And, the meteor showers!

Northern Taurids peak on the 12th. The Leonids peak on the 18th. The Pleiades cluster will be at it brightest, too! November 28 is the peak of the Orionids. The Hyades Cluster will also be especially bright, so look toward Taurus.

Remember, meteor showers are often named for their closest constellation. So find Taurus to see the Northern Taurids, Leo for the Leonids, and Orion to see the Orionids shower.

You might even choose to record some of these events in your nature journal. Happy viewing!

@rbaburina

📷 Adrian Pelletier

November 9, 2023

She’s not a Milton or a Shakespeare or a Wordsworth or a Shelley. She’s no Emily Dickinson or Robert Frost. But for twenty years her poems have spoken to my heart, and thanks to the gift of recitation, they now have a home there.

@artmiddlekauff

November 10, 2023

I was quite late to put up my window bird feeders this year. The snow had already been around for 10 days when I finally got around to installing them.

My feeders are held up by suction cups, so I had to wait for a warmer, sunnier day to install them. I like to wait to fill them until they have been up for a day, so that I can be sure the suction cups have taken properly and the whole thing won’t come tumbling down.

Well, the morning after I installed them, Serafina and I were sitting at the dining room table, doing some school work, and don’t we look over to the still seedless feeder, to see a chickadee sitting in it, looking right at us? (I wish I had gotten a photo of its pitiful face!)

With shouts of “Precious birds, you have come back!!! You remember us!!!” Serafina and I both absolutely melted at the sight.

We quickly filled the feeders, and we had a continuous stream of visitors all day, chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches, blue jays, sparrows, and downy woodpeckers!

@antonella.f.greco

November 11, 2023

“Oh! give us once again the wishing-cap
Of Fortunatus, and the invisible coat
Of Jack the Giant-killer, Robin Hood,
And Sabra in the forest with St George!
The child, whose love is here, at least, doth reap
One precious gain, that he forgets himself.”

— William Wordsworth

@artmiddlekauff

📷 @aolander

In 165 BC, Judas Maccabaeus said to the men of his army, “Behold, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it.” For three years the temple of Jerusalem had been shrouded in darkness and desolation. Judas Maccabaeus came to bring light.

They rebuilt the altar, they rebuilt the sanctuary, and they consecrated the courts. “Then they burned incense on the altar and lighted the lamps on the lampstand, and these gave light in the temple. They placed the bread on the table and hung up the curtains. Thus they finished all the work they had undertaken.”

Finally after a great celebration, “Judas and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of the dedication of the altar should be observed with gladness and joy for eight days,” and so the Feast of Dedication was born.

Nearly two centuries later, after spending two months in the wilderness, Jesus Christ returned to Jerusalem. He came to the temple once again to bring His light. It was the Feast of Dedication. What was the reaction of the people when Jesus “was walking in the temple in Solomon’s porch”? Charlotte Mason captures the moment in her poem, which you can read or hear here.

@artmiddlekauff