The CMP Review — Week of December 4

December 4, 2023

“Moving house to a new area when you have a family is not quite the simple matter it first appears. There is more to it than packing tea-chests and choosing new curtains. Relationships are built up over a matter of months and years, and are very much part of life. It takes an effort to make new friends when you are parted from your old ones and determined not to lose touch with them. Fortunately, children are very resilient. Given the opportunities, they can show their parents how to adjust to the new life.”

As we are in the process of moving, these words from a PNEU Journal article have brought me comfort. In the article, Barbara Crane explores the challenges of moving house with insights on family dynamics, loneliness, and making new connections. Navigate the journey with practical tips, read the full article here.

@tessakeath

December 5, 2023

When Mrs. Egerton Evans contemplated homeschooling, she first took full stock of her situation. “I was full of doubts as to the feasibility of my being able to tackle what seemed at first sight to be a whole time job, whilst continuing to do my household work and care for my baby,” she recalled. “My own education had been of the sketchy variety and I felt terribly at sea.”

“Our house was not a large one, but also it was not a model one—no refrigerator, vacuum cleaner or other labour savers; no electric light or gas, even no coal, just oil lamps and a wood stove involving attention at frequent intervals just to keep it alight,” she continued. “With a family of a husband and three invariably hungry children to feed, and a house to keep moderately clean…, the prospect of devoting hours each day to the schoolroom seemed somewhat overwhelming.”

In careful consideration of this stark reality, she made the natural decision … she said “yes” to homeschooling. “And I have never regretted my decision,” she declared.

You see, she was not alone in facing these challenges. Thanks to the Charlotte Mason method, she discovered “a strong and eager ally who has been my faithful assistant at all our lessons.” Find the name of this amazing ally in the irresistible story of a homeschooling mother from 1935. Find it here.

@artmiddlekauff

December 6, 2023

Nature gives us a yearly reminder of the importance of taking a rest and lying fallow.

Formal lessons have always drawn to a close the first week of December in our home—making way for an unfrenzied pace of baking, handicrafts, and preparations for Christmas & travel. It’s also given time to rest, enjoy winter sports, and finish our term’s Shakespeare play in front of the fire.

How do you take a restful approach in December?

@rbaburina

December 7, 2023

“We do not say ‘I have read’ Shakespeare.”

“He, indeed, is not to be classed, and timed, and treated as one amongst others,—he, who might well be the daily bread of the intellectual life; Shakespeare is not to be studied in a year; he is to be read continuously throughout life, from ten years old and onwards. But a child of ten cannot understand Shakespeare. No; but can a man of fifty?”

— Charlotte Mason

@artmiddlekauff

December 8, 2023

This week’s installment on “see how incredible this freezing fog looks!”

I’ve never seen it quite so long and spiky! And it is mostly on one side. We’re thinking that is because of the way the wind was gently blowing as it was forming.

It is pretty special to live in a winter wonderland!

@antonella.f.greco

December 9, 2023

Why do birds fluff their feathers in the cold? How did Holly get its name? Why is snow white?

These are just some of the topics Florence M. Haines discusses in “A Walk in December.” Join us to learn about many of the fascinating things we might see this month in The Changing Year by clicking here.

@rbaburina

“In the light of the rising attacks, Jesus went back across the Jordan, to the east side, away from Jerusalem and Judea, to the place where John had been baptising in the early days,” explains D. A. Carson, commenting on John 10:40. “The symbolism is palpable. John the Baptist had prepared the way for the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry, and now that public ministry is drawing to a close, while the Baptist’s ministry is reviewed once more.”

Jesus had said, “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.” Charlotte Mason’s touching poem explores the symbolism of this moment, where the seed John sowed bore fruit for eternal life. Would the Baptist ever know? Read or hear Mason’s poem here.

@artmiddlekauff