Richele Baburina’s Session Abstracts

Note: Sessions are 50 minutes in length unless noted otherwise.

Charlotte Mason and Math — A Mountain Perspective

Charlotte Mason refers to Mathematics as a mountainous land, where travelers benefit from an invigorating atmosphere and each step is taken on firm ground. In this session we take a guided journey through the Principality of Mathematics in the Mason classroom from the early years through upper math. Using Charlotte’s analogy of mathematics and the mountainous land, we begin by looking at math education as an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life while moving from preschool through the upper grades. Along the way, practical advice for contemporary schoolrooms is also given.

Mathematics and Charlotte Mason’s Great Recognition

Catch a glimpse of the beauty, truth, and joy of mathematics and see how Charlotte Mason’s methods allow us to enter its realm with confidence, holding the key that the One through whom mathematical laws came to be instructs our children as well as ourselves.

Math as a Beautiful Adventure

Mathematicians are great imaginists with an immense curiosity—the same qualities inherent in children. Cultivate a spirit of adventure in your child’s math lesson and see how Charlotte Mason’s approach to mathematics goes beyond symbols and rules to reveal wondrous truths just waiting to be discovered.

Beauty

Miss Mason tells us that “There are few joys in life greater and more constant than our joy in Beauty.” And yet amazingly, this wonderful gift of beauty can foster pride, encourage selfishness, and divide people. How can we properly receive this gift without corrupting it and ourselves? If we take a close look at Charlotte Mason’s approach to developing and applying the beauty sense, we can find the answer. Hint: the gift of beauty is not meant to be hoarded. It’s meant to be given away.

Jane Austen’s “Fine Brush” in a Charlotte Mason Education

Jane Austen playfully remarked of her writing that she “worked with so fine a brush” on a “little bit (two inches wide) of ivory.” In this session we discuss the deep admiration Charlotte Mason had for Austen’s intricate brushwork and her place in the Mason classroom both past and present. Charlotte Brönte and Elizabeth Gaskell—two other beloved imagination-warmers of Miss Mason’s—play a part in the conversation. This session also reviews the role of Literature in Forms I-VI of a Mason education.

Keeping a Nature Notebook

Science, writing, poetry, and art. Discover how to brilliantly combine all four subjects and passions in a single activity: keeping a nature notebook. In this interactive session we’ll see how keeping a nature journal, perhaps more than any other single discipline, illustrates Charlotte Mason’s key idea that education is the science of relations.

Charlotte Mason’s Picture Study

Experience Charlotte Mason’s gentle approach to art appreciation in this interactive session on Picture Study. Learn how easy it is to furnish a child’s mind with galleries of pictures by the great masters. We’ll also discuss some simple ways to deepen the experience for older students.

Living Books and the Dyslexic Learner

Learn how the literature-rich Charlotte Mason style of education—hallmarked by its use of living books across a variety of subjects— helps the dyslexic child progress in listening, speaking, reading, and writing at his own pace and in an enjoyable way.

Math as a Beautiful Adventure

Brush Drawing—A Living Art (2 hrs.)

Do you want to add life to your nature journal but don’t know where to begin? Brush drawing is a watercolor technique that captures the gesture and essence of flowers and plants with simple yet eloquent strokes. People of all ages and skill levels can cultivate an artist’s hand and eye with this friendly and effective technique. In this expanded, hands-on session, you will learn beginning brush-drawing strokes and how to combine them into a finished drawing of a nature object.

Brush Drawing Demonstration

Watch a live brush drawing demonstration including the basic strokes and how they can be combined to capture the grace and form of plants and flowers while also learning about the use of this living art in Charlotte Mason’s schools of both past and present.

Fostering Good Habits in the Math Lesson

Can the study of math reinforce good habits in your child’s life? Yes! We’ll look at the habits that Charlotte Mason’s wonderful approach to math will build in your child and the methods employed to do so.

Everyday Objects in the Charlotte Mason Math Lesson

Learn how everyday objects such as coins, beads, and sticks can be used to communicate math concepts, prove facts, promote understanding, and allow children to gain confidence in math.

Math Facts & Table Work

Take a guided tour of Charlotte Mason’s approach to teaching math facts for the four operations. These simple and effective techniques allow your child to grasp the rationale behind the Tables, discover patterns and relationships, and master facts—all while igniting the imagination.

Learn to Watercolor Landscapes

Learn how to paint a landscape in watercolor using a combination of techniques. Participants will first watch a live demonstration then receive guidance as they create their own. Supplies are provided but students are encouraged to bring their own watercolors in order to learn to work with what they have. Plein air option available.

Suminagashi

Discover the art of Japanese paper marbling. Learn about this fascinating artform then try it out for yourself with a guided how-to and take your creations home with you. All supplies included.

Outdoor Sessions

Note: Can be adapted to indoor activities in case of inclement weather. Activities vary based on location, time, group size, and ages.

Nature and the Art of Seeing

Charlotte Mason holds the study of nature to be chiefly for the pure and immeasurable joy of the acquaintances made. Whether your family spends hours outdoors or you’re wondering how to take that first step, you’ll be introduced to some of Miss Mason’s practical ways to cultivate the art of seeing that won’t tread on a child’s freedom to explore and observe nature.

Outdoor Geography

Charlotte Mason believed a child’s first ideas of geography should come from time in the outdoors. Outdoor Geography is made up of those little opportunities we take to teach geography in a by the way manner. Rather than memorizing meaningless strings of facts and a vocabulary list, our children can gain a lifelong interest and understanding of the wide world around them—all begun within walking distance of their own homes. Hear some practical ways to incorporate Outdoor Geography and partake in a lively lesson yourself.

Scouting

Hear the fascinating story of how the Boy Scout movement came to be thanks to Charlotte Mason then experience some of the same scouting activities her students were tested on to earn their tassels of honour.