Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival: Yosemite Edition

Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls 5-11-08

Oh what a treat to host this carnival. I get to read all the submissions before anyone else and savor them as they come in one by one. There are some gems in this edition so make sure to make a bookmark and come back as you find some spare minutes in your busy homeschooling day. Think of the carnival as part of your Mother Culture time.

I just got back from a day trip to Yosemite National Park so instead of my usual graphics for the carnival I decided to treat you to some local scenery. If you have never been to this National Park, it is a place to put on your "life list". It is truly a place to be experienced live and up close. So enjoy the photos and the blog entries for this carnival, I hope they inspire you.

Leila at Freedom Academy is going to give you something to think about and a renewed spirit to keep learning alongside your children about things we find in our big, beautiful world.
On Charlotte Mason and Emily Dickinson
I really enjoyed reading the poem and Leila's thoughts. In fact, I have been musing over this post for the last week or so and realized how true it is in our family's experience.


Dogwood in full bloom-Yosemite Valley

Amanda at Hearts and Trees was also thinking about poetry this week. Here is her entry Charlotte Mason and Nature Poetry with some wonderful ideas and reasons for including poetry in our homeschooling life and in our nature journals. She says, "If we think about poetry as "word paintings," however, it may help us to realize that children can come to understand and appreciate great poetry, just like great art, by continuous exposure and our own enthusiasm." Thanks Amanda for sharing this post with all of us.


Ponderosa pine-see the puzzle piece shapes in the bark?

MomtoCherubs at Adventures on Beck's Bounty shares a little wisdom found in their families nature study. Ants Thanks for the reminder to look for God's wisdom in everyday things.

My entry for the carnival this time is about how we have intertwined Charlotte Mason's ideas for schooling with a textbook for high school biology this year. My entry outlines how we added in nature study, biographies, and living books to enrich our science experience. Please read Charlotte Mason and Science. I also would like to mention here since I forgot to say so in the blog entry that following the Ambleside Online's rotation of nature study will give you a great foundation for high school science. If you read through my entry you will realize that if your family is focusing on three to four areas a year, you will have touched on just about every topic in the high school biology textbook. Awesome to think about.


Jamie's daughter takes a turn at sketching in her journal after her picnic

Jamie at Life & Love in the Rose Cottage has written a blog entry about their nature walk and a picnic...complete with fantastic photos of their whole group. Don't miss Nature Study Picnic since it will remind you to take a few minutes to have a meal outdoors soon.

Melissa's nature table

Melissa from In the Sparrow's Nest has written an entry that we can all use as a model for a "nature table". I first read about these a few months ago and we have since then started one of our own. Melissa has illustrated with photos just what she has on her table and how they plan to use it. Nature Table is a great entry for all the families that have informal "collections" all over the house and want a way to pull them together for a great learning tool.


Little creek near Stoneman's Meadow-Yosemite Valley

Phyllis submitted a delightful entry titled If you Give a Child A Worksheet that I am sure you will all enjoy reading. She recounts their morning that starts off with a worksheet and then leads off in many directions. Thanks Phyllis for the fun look into your morning, this one is a keeper. Phyllis and her family are heading to Ukraine to live so if you read her blog in the months to come you will learn some more about a beautiful place on the other side of the world from most of us.

Bush lupine-along the Merced River, Yosemite Valley

Jamie is sharing another entry from her blog, Rose Cottage. She shares with everyone Why CM?
She lists out reasons her family has chosen to use Charlotte Mason's methods. She says, "I wish this was how I was taught, and I have so much fun learning along side Kathryn."


Snow plant-Curry Village, Yosemite Valley

Long term planning was on the mind of Amy at Growing Fruit this week. She shares her blog entry The Big Picture complete with a photo of her "big picture" planning page using the Charlotte Mason ideas and concepts. I have always found that planning in this way helps me keep my focus and I'm sure you will benefit from reading and taking a look at what she shared in her entry


Indian paintbrush-Happy Isles, Yosemite Valley

Andrea at Kids and Nature explains her alternative to the term "mother culture" in her blog entry The Price of Professional Development. Managing to fit time in for a little mother culture/professional development is always a balancing act but oh, so necessary.


Nothing like a piggy back ride from your big brother-Heading to Vernal Falls Trail

Renae at Life Nurturing Education shares some thoughts on keeping a personal journal as a tool. We all have those times that we need to reflect and gain some perspective. Preserving Sanity.

Half Dome with just a little snow left

Makita at Twinkling Stars Family School shares her blog post on her daughter's beginning narration with the Story of the World.
We are Just Beginning-SOTW shares how they are handling the progressive narration ideas offered in a Charlotte Mason education.

Keri's son working on his history narration

Keri also had the Story of the World on her mind this week for her carnival entry. She shares History and Charlotte Mason on her blog. This will help you get a feel for how her family takes the history topic and does various kinds of narration. This entry goes perfectly with Makita's entry above. Please enjoy Keri's entry.

Shannon at Song of My Heart shares their experience with narration after a field trip. You can read all about it here at Narrating a Feathery Field Trip. I think everyone will benefit from reading how narration goes in this family. Thanks.

Speaking of birds, Karen shares a little about a DVD series that has sparked some interest in birds in her home. Please read her entry The Birds DVD that I have Been Watching.

Merced River roaring through Happy Isles

Jenny submitted a blog post sharing some reviews of books to use with your CM family. Wholesome Christian Adventure helps with the situation where you have a reader on your hands who needs some good books to read.


Jimmie's daughter's impressionist painting

Jimmie at One Child Policy wanted to share her entry showing their artist study for Claude Monet. In her entry, Artist Study-Monet, she gives us some ideas for reproducing an artist's work once we have completed our picture study. As usual, Jimmie shares some great ideas.

Bridalveil Falls-roaring down the granite walls

Renaissance study with a lot of great artist ideas are included in Cindy's post at One Our Journey Westward. In her entry, Renaissance Study you will find lots of great examples of how to extend your picture study to include some follow up projects. I love the Discovering Great Artists book and would highly recommend it to help with your artist study.

Sunset on El Capitan-our favorite place to watch the expert rock climbers with binoculars. Can you believe the climbers sleep hanging from the face of this rock formation as they make their ascent?

Well that is it for this edition of the carnival. Whew! Lots to read and digest in the next two weeks. I want to thank everyone who submitted their blog entries for this edition and I wish to thank those who take the time to read and comment on the various blog entries. This is most definitely a group effort.

If you would like to enter something in the next carnival, please use the link below to submit an entry.

Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival Entry Form

Thanks again,
Barb-Harmony Art Mom