Plutarch lives on

Empty stands at the marathon finish line.

Last evening the mayor announced the cancellation of this year's New York City Marathon.

His announcement came a few days after Hurricane Sandy wiped out parts of the city and one day before the race was scheduled to be run.

After we sighed with relief, my family talked about how the decision was made. We talked about leadership, voicing opposition, listening.

We talked about the need to be firm and decisive during crisis, yet flexible and willing to change direction.

What happens when leaders and the people don't agree, we asked each other. What would happen with a different decision? How important is timing? What's the best way to communicate?

And, as we talked, I saw that our Plutarch studies influenced us and how we approached the news story.

We are in the habit now, thanks to Plutarch and Anne White's study guides, to examine the idea of leadership and talk about what qualities are essential or detrimental to leaders. We consider context and character. We notice, think, and talk, and sometimes disagree. I'm grateful for the habits we've honed by spending time with Plutarch and the leaders he wrote about.

I should note that our first attempts at Plutarch were not successful, but that's another blog post. For now, on Day 3 of my Gratitude Project, I'm grateful we stuck it through our initial struggles with Plutarch.

A hotdish is not a hot dish

Buenos dias, amigos.

I love my neighborhood and all the people from different places that live here.

My kids have teachers and coaches from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Brazil. They spend time with others from Japan, Israel, Germany, Hungary, Ecuador. The other night we met neighbors for dinner at an El Salvadorian restaurant, but one of our other favorite local joints is an Irish pub with real live Irishmen and their funny accents and stories.

The different groups don't necessarily blend together, but we all live together, and I like that.

But what I'm grateful for today, Day 2 of my gratitude blog project, is a little oasis in my neighborhood of Midwesterners.

My church, located on a diverse street in a diverse neighborhood, has a small congregation with a big representation of people from the American Midwest. And among the people from the Midwest, there are a handful of people from my state, Minnesota.

I don't pine for my home state or want to move back, but I admit I like spending time with people who are from where I'm from. I guess people from other places feel the same way.

For one thing, I like being among people who appreciate self-deprecating humor. If I tell a story making fun of myself, New Yorkers tend to respond by giving me a pep talk and telling me I should think more highly of myself. A Minnesotan will laugh. I like that.

And I like being around people who party with a potluck, show up with a small hostess gift, and know what it means if I say, "I'll bring a hotdish."

Stand clear of the closing doors

Hurricane Sandy blew through the city earlier this week, and my family is safe, dry, and with power. Others in the city are truly suffering, and their hardships will continue for a long time. My thoughts go out to them and to the people who are helping them. 

At my subway station, still closed.

With the start of November, I thought I'd start a Gratitude List. This is Day 1, and I'm grateful for public transportation. 

I want to say, "I love you" to the Bx7, to the extra-long Select bus with the accordion bend in it, to my beloved M4, and to all the other MTA buses that carry me around.

The buses were taken off the streets for only a couple of days because of the hurricane, but the streets felt eerie and empty without them. I was happy to see the bus pull up to the stop where we waited for it yesterday. I was less happy when the bus was so crowded that I questioned the sanity of humanity, and my son and I decided to walk a couple of miles and let others who really needed the ride to take it. We walked faster on the sidewalk than the stuffed bus moved along Broadway. Still, I'm very grateful for the buses in NYC and for the sign that life is getting back to normal, if only piece-meal, in the city.

The stretch of subway line closest to my apartment isn't running yet, but there are stations within walking distance of my place that I can use. Whoohoo. I'm very happy some subways are running again, not only for me, but for all the people who need them to get to work. (My husband rides his bike to his job.) I will be grateful to stand clear of the closing doors.

As I am typing this, I received a phone call from a friend who is going through her phone book and calling New York friends to say hello and ask how they fared the hurricane. As thankful as I am for public transportation, I'm reminded that I'm more thankful for friends. Of course.

Essay Test for Mom

I asked my daughter, "So, what did the teacher say about your essay?" I tried not to sound anxious.

I sent my daughter to a one-day essay-writing class for teens. She has never taken a writing class before. The only writing assignments in the past years from me have been written narrations, Charlotte Mason style. I introduced the essay format only a few weeks ago for the first time, though my daughter did have a smattering of written assignments in a Shakespeare class last year. Written narrations have been essentially her only writing assignments until this fall.

I signed up my daughter for the class not only for her to receive instruction and feedback from someone other than me, but because *I* wanted to know how we were doing. How does her writing compare to her peers? Did I ruin her writing by waiting until this year to give formal instruction? Should I have asked her over the years to write about her summer vacations, or about what she wanted to be when she grows up, or about her opinion of grilled cheese vs. peanut butter sandwiches? Is she hampered by not mastering the mechanics of a three-point paragraph? Did I mess up by waiting so long to tell her why clauses and phrases are separated by commas most of the time, but not necessarily always?

"Well, what did the teacher say?"

Nice place for an essay-writing class, don't you think?

"Mom," my daughter said, "the class was so much fun!" And I relaxed.

Apparently the instructor complimented her on her vocabulary (thank you, living books!). on her references to examples in literature (thank you, living books!), and on her engaging writing style (thank you, living books!). She also commented on my daughter's legible handwriting (thank you, copywork from living books!).

The area that needs correction is proper use of commas and semi-colons. I already knew we needed to cover the technicalities of punctuation. Not a surprise, and not a problem.

"That's it?" I asked. "Anything else?"

"No, except the teacher told me to keep writing and to keep reading. She said the best way to learn to write is to read a lot."

I know I've heard that advice before. Oh, thank you Charlotte Mason. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Charlotte Mason Carnival: Syllabus and lots of links

Welcome to the Charlotte Mason Carnival for September 18, 2012!

The theme for this carnival is

Principle #13

In devising a SYLLABUS for a normal child, 3 points - (a) He requires much knowledge, (b) varied, and (c) communicated in well chosen language.

Not everyone who submitted blog posts to the Carnival this month connected with Principle #13, but as we all know, Charlotte Mason advised us to make our own connections. All ideas connected to a CM education are welcome. At this party, the more ideas, the merrier. Let's get to them:

* LindaFay at Higher Up and Further In shares a blog post about Mother Culture. Mother Culture has been on my mind quite a bit these past few months, and I thank LindaFay for writing about the topic. You'll find the post at Mother Culture: What it Is and What it Is Not. As a second entry into the carnival, LindaFay also writes How to Teach Your Child to Outline.

* Celeste and Angela are friends who write a blog together, and they are joining the Charlotte Mason Carnival for the first time. Celeste shares her post First Grade in our Home and Angela sends in a Progress Report about kindergarten. Welcome to the Carnival and welcome to homeschooling Charlotte Mason style!
* Looking for inspiration about Bible memory work? This blog post at Journey-and-Destination might be the spark you needed: Bible Memory.
*   Check out the post Ultimate Guide to Nature Study at Our Journey Westward. It's a post worth bookmarking as a resource.
* For ideas about those precious years of early childhood, read Preparing your little ones for a Charlotte Mason Education at HomeGrownBabies.
* I can relate to the submission by Jimmie's Collage! See what I mean at Being the Homeschool Oddball.
* Hearts and Trees pulled a winner from her archives entitled Why Include Handicrafts in your Home School? I can always use inspiration about useful handicrafts.
* We have not one but two lovely submissions by Nancy at Sage Parnassus. Joy Reigns and Constitution Day. Nancy finds the best books and ideas to share with us. She knows what we like!
* I've been following Harmony Art Mom for quite awhile, and this post is an example why: Picture Study Using Art Calendars. 
* And look at this! A blog post at Letters from Nebby about this Carnival's theme! Whoohoo! You'll find a thoughtful commentary about Principle #13 at A Varied Education. Thank you, Nebby!
* Barb at Handbook of Nature Study has wonderful advice for a problem many of us face. Read her words of wisdom at Nature Study: Struggling With Consistency and Focus.
* The blog On Just a Couple of Acres was noticed by a fellow homeschooler, who suggested that the blog post about using the Bible as a primary curriculum be submitted to the Carnival. I love the spirit of encouraging others to join in the Carnival. Here's the post (plus beautiful photos): Our Home Education Program.
* One of the many things I personally love about Charlotte Mason is that her ideas go beyond academics. Educating Mother gives us an example of this in her post Good Health is not only a Blessing but a Duty.
* Big cheers for another blog post about the Carnival theme. Thank you, Silvia at Homeschooling in a Bilingual Home, for A Syllabus for a Normal Child.
* Epi Kardia's contribution this month is sure to intrigue those of us who love etymology. And doesn't everyone love etymology? Check out: King Alfred's English: A History of the Language We Speak - a Must-read! 
* Do we have any readers among us? Yes, I thought so. All you readers will enjoy thinking about the ideas at Dewey's Treehouse: In which we remain stubbornly attached to our squiggly lines and paper pages (Response to "Literature is the new [dead] Latin").
* And then we have Shakespeare. Amy at Fisher Academy shares super-great ideas about reading and comprehending Shakespeare with your kids. I could have used this post a couple of years ago, Amy! But whether you're just starting out with Shakespeare studies or are experienced, you'll get some good ideas at Shakespeare: Cymbeline.

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The next Charlotte Mason Carnival will be hosted by North Laurel on October 2, 2012. The topic is Principles #14 & 15 - (14) Children should 'tell back' after a single reading or hearing: or should write on some part of what they have read. (15) A single reading is insisted on, because children have naturally great power of attention; but this force is dissipated by the re-reading of passages, and also, by questioning, summarising.

For information about submitting a blog post the Charlotte Mason Carnival, please click here. 

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Thank you to everyone who submitted articles and a special thanks to people who encourage bloggers by reading posts and leaving comments.

CM Carnival!!

Hello all!

It's been awhile since I've posted on my blog, but today marks the day for a Charlotte Mason Carnival! I'm running a bit behind setting up the carnival here on my blog, and I ask you to please check back late tonight for the carnival entries. Oh, the anticipation!

Thank you to everyone who submitted blog posts to the carnival. And, thank you to everyone for your patience while I lag behind...the carnival is coming!

Easy and not easy: baking bread

This morning I had homemade Irish soda bread and strawberry jam for breakfast. I'd show you a picture, but I already ate it up.

My daughter decided a couple of months ago to bake a fresh loaf of bread once a week, and she's been keeping up the habit. Each week she picks a different recipe to try, and some varieties we've enjoyed are onion buns, Russian black bread, focaccia, braided challah, and this week, a quick Irish soda bread.

She's gone from someone who wants to bake bread to someone who does bake bread. Each week she tells me she learned something new, either about ingredients, techniques, storage, or how to handle our less-than-perfect oven. She told me, "Mom, it's so easy!"

Yes, it's easy and it's also not easy. There are plenty of reasons why a bread-baking habit is difficult in modern big-city life, but she made the habit easy on herself when she decided to try one loaf a week, and she made it easy on herself by creating an enjoyable environment.

I doubt she purposely said, "I'm going to create an atmosphere for success," but that's what her actions did. She picks her recipe in advance and shops for any missing items. On baking day, she wakes up early to have the kitchen to herself (we have a tiny kitchen), she plays music she enjoys, and she wears an adorable apron (a key to success in the kitchen is a cute apron, of course!)

She didn't try to keep the family in a constant supply of freshly baked bread, though her family would certainly enjoy that, but sticks to one loaf a week that she looks forward to baking. Slow and steady, she has become a bread baker who knows what she's doing and who wants to learn  more.

Hmmm...slow habit development, encouraging atmophere, sound familiar to Charlotte Mason fans? Of course, you don't need to read and follow Charlotte Mason to bake bread once a week, but it does seem me that a CM lifestyle had some influence here.