CPQ May Newsletter
Some months ago, I had a friend come by to get some help with homeschooling. She pulled Parables of Nature out of her bag with the deer in the headlights look about her. I couldn’t help but laugh. Some love it, some don’t (I personally love it), but I knew it would present quite the chasm when you come to homeschooling from public school with a child with special needs.
So, we talked about born persons, how visuals could help, how notebooking can help transfer ideas from the short-term to the long-term brain, and what that could look like. I also sent her away with a handful of different books to try instead.
“I think I’m struggling because I need a scheduled plan, and my daughter doesn’t work that way. You’re so natural with all of this.”
And so, I told her. I told her about my color-coded spreadsheets. I told her how I used to think about screens and how I pushed things that weren’t working because I thought it was the right thing to do. I told her of the mom I used to be and how any natural ways I may have about myself were from almost 20 years of learning—and mostly, the hard way. I told her about the struggle bus because we have been on it and because I’m the one driving it sometimes.
She told me out of everything I had shared with her, that was the most encouraging. Maybe it is encouraging to you, too.
It reminds me of a poem I wrote:
“Mom!’
“I have an idea, Mom!’
“Mom, let’s have a pillow fight!”
“Can we make cookies, Mom?”
“Mom! Help!”
Like an old movie camera
My heart shows me
–in whirs and clicks–
The Plan was never my plan,
So neatly color-coded in
Spreadsheets.
I wonder what my
Children would think–
What kind of relationship we’d have–
If I never learned that.
-Mariah
On The CPQ Blog
Beyond the Upper Years (Part 1)
Behind the Scenes
Upper Years has shipped
Personhood is in layout
Goodness articles are in copyedit
Main article writers for “Books” have been contacted
Did you know you can be a part of CPQ? Visit our website to find out how to submit photography, writing, and content pieces from your kiddos.
Planning Mania
From the looks of our Instagram feed, you may be in planning mode! We've returned to certain things, certain words, year after year as we’ve planned. Here’s a list of some of those things, and a few new things that have caught our eye:
5 Steps to Planning Your Charlotte Mason Homeschool (simplycharlottemason.com)
I Am, I Can, I Ought, I Will, OR: Do the Work of Homeschooling (Afterthoughts)
The Thing is the Thing • Sage Parnassus
Peace Like a River • Sage Parnassus
4 Considerations Before Planning Your School Year : Min.J.Hwang on IG
Scheduling Cards | A Delectable Education Podcast
School is War: Scheduling for Peace Revisited - Afterthoughts (afterthoughtsblog.net)
For the Church | When Mommy Loves Jesus More (ftc.co)
CMEC - 2018 CMEC Retreat Package (thecmec.org)
An Oyster and a Jewel - AmblesideOnline - Charlotte Mason Curriculum
The Spiritual Octopus - AmblesideOnline - Charlotte Mason Curriculum
School Education - Appendix II - AmblesideOnline - Charlotte Mason Curriculum
The Spirit and the Letter of a Charlotte Mason Education | Karen Glass
Archipelago: Enough (archipelago7.blogspot.com)
Copyedit for CPQ
We are looking for an additional copy editor for CPQ! We are restructuring a few of our processes and would love to bring you on board to copyedit a section of the magazine each quarter.
If this seems like an opportunity you’re interested in, please contact Mariah at mariah@commonplacequarterly.com
CPQ in Arizona
Sarah and Mariah flew to Arizona to stay with Cara for our annual planning meeting this year. We were able to tour West Press and see all the steps the magazine goes through when it’s sent to print. Don’t miss the post on Instagram!
Our Year 7 themes will be Books, Things, Truth, and Laugh.
We have more new things lined up for Year 7:
a literary canon column,
we’re going to look at modern educational theory and compare/contrast that to Mason’s philosophy,
we will consider what “a great inheritance” looks like at different levels,
have a poetry column,
a nature chronicles column exploring some reserves and/or natural parks,
and we decided, based on the response to our Upper Years issue, that we needed an Upper Years column in the magazine.
It’s going to be a strong year of CPQ! Subscribe now to finish off Year 6 (Personhood and Goodness) and get excited with us for what’s to come. Our website offers print and digital options for every budget.
Blast from the Past
I haven’t always had a disposition to wonder. It is something I have been working on for years. I began to be awakened to it with the birth of my first child. With each addition to our family, I have been able to revisit this newness of awe. Today I have the added blessing of others who give me time with their children.
I believe there are a few requirements for wonder: namely time, discipline, and humility. Wonder is not fit in between rushed car rides to and from activities. Priority and intentionality are the atmospheric conditions it demands. Time for wonder requires willingness to stop the car and back up when we see an owl along the road. Wonder makes me late to good things because the surging of awe was encompassing. Slowing down gives me the ability to embrace wonder.
-Marcia Mattern
Get To Know The Editors
What’s Cara…
Reading: All the Glimmering Stars and Disconnected Kids: The Groundbreaking Brain Balance Program for Children with Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Other Neurological Disorders
Listening to: The Count of Monte Cristo
Eating: a lot of Mexican food
Watching: FB(eye) with the kids
Creating: uncluttered spaces in my home
Drinking: Horchata
Thinking about: how much fun I’m having with Sarah and Mariah here
What’s Mariah…
Reading: Coming Up Cuban: Rising Past Castro’s Shadow and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
Creating: smooth admin processes for CPQ
Listening to: early morning bird song on Cara’s front porch— I saw a mockingbird for the first time!
Eating: street tacos, breakfast burritos, an Indian taco; Sarah made us egg curry and chocolate while we plan
Watching: for all things blooming in the Arizona desert
Drinking: a lot of water
Thinking about: farming in Arizona. It never occurred to me that our “knee-high by Fourth of July” saying about the height of a good crop of corn was regional. I want to know more about the soil and crop rotations in desert farming.
What’s Sarah…
Reading: Don Quixote and A Voyage Long and Strange
Listening to: all the new-to-me Arizona bird songs
Creating: simple baby quilt with a few paper-pieced moths mixed in
Thinking about: CPQ marketing strategies and expanding my roles there
Eating: Arizona Mexican food—it’s so different from California
Watching: Mariah writhe in pain through all the girl talk when we should be planning
Drinking: Stamp Act coffee, which is now my favorite coffee, and interesting local Tucson sodas and teas