Pursuit and Passion :: A Living Education Retreat

Sometimes I can get myself stuck in the still and stagnant air of square boxes and grids and time-slot scheduling of school days. Even when it's pretty paper! I do know better, but when the days are slipping past too quickly, it's easy to default to a familiar groove. That's what was happening. I needed this fresh wind I had planned for myself since last spring!

 I spent most of this past weekend at Shalom Hill Farm, on the prairie of southwestern Minnesota, gathered with friends and like-minded moms and dads who have chosen the Charlotte-Mason- road- less- traveled way as a means of home educating their children. It was wonder- full.

I traveled with a good friend who lives too far away and we used up all of the oxygen in the car--going and coming-- just catching up on life. (Seems a shame to use "catching up" and "life" so close together in the same sentence.) We arrived in plenty of time, even after a small amount of driving the round-about way due to some road construction. There were no large mobs of people and lines at the registration table.  Instead, a smiling friendly face to welcome us. Our attention was drawn immediately to the simplicity and beauty of this place, both inside and out. Inside, photos of flowers wrapped in frames of twigs and embellished with verses on vellum paper. A science and nature journal display table. Quilts and bookshelves and comfortable furniture placed invitingly at each level. Our room with large windows to look out over these open spaces. Outside, buildings built into the slope of the land were hemmed in by shade trees and then-- there was the wide open rolling prairie. We made our way through the yard behind the retreat center, past the caretakers house to find the others who had arrived early, and ate a light meal of locally grown sweet corn and fruit while seated on a hay wagon near a camp fire. :o) Ahhhhh. 

   

We stretched our legs by taking a nice walk down the gravel road before gathering our things and settling in for the night.

We rose early so that we could begin the morning with prayer and reflection. We walked down the hill under an overcast, misty sky and joined the others at the observation deck. Nancy read from scripture, and she read poetry about gratitude being a "scattered and homeless love". So very beautiful. Read the words for yourself and see if you don't agree!  And she prayed as a rooster crowed and sheep grazed and a playful tiger-striped cat rubbed against our ankles. That's how the day began. And these were the very same things sprinkled throughout the days that made the whole retreat so restorational. So really living.

Jennifer Gagnon (pronounced gone-yo) came from Canada to speak life into our science and nature studies using Charlotte Mason's methods -- to encourage and enlighten and instruct us. It was obvious she had a passion for nature and a love for learning! She shared stories from her childhood experiences that shaped and inspired her to love the natural world around her; especially bees- an interest sparked because her long distance Grandmother had kept bees. Funny the influences one really does have, even as a Grandma! I thought fondly of one of my own grandmothers enjoying the birds outside her kitchen window and the white plastic bird bath she kept filled with water. And the other grandmother working and weeding in her beautiful flower gardens.

 And then there were the immersion groups. There were many living topics to choose from--that was the hardest part! Poetry? Composer study? Picture study? Hand crafts?? How to choose...I had sturdied myself and been brave enough to participate in a similar experience in North Carolina earlier this summer. I found then that I really enjoyed the poetry, so I made my choice to be a student in the poetry group. These are called immersion groups because it is here where the philosophies are put into practice and you participate as the student while an experienced CMer is the teacher. In this way you get to "see" your role as the teacher and then "know" (or not "know"!) the way your child does as the student. Yes, we were expected to narrate! Karla was a gracious, smiling teacher. She willingly shared some personal reflections from her journal written during a difficult time. Poetry had been a comfort to her. And she smiled. I would wish to show forth joy the way she does.

There was time for Q & A and discussion, for sharing ideas.

Cheri (and her five-week-new little boy bundle from heaven!) led an eager group of ladies into the great outdoors on a nature study. I had never heard of wood sorrell before. I ate some. It was good! And it was here that I knew for certain that I would never again leave out nature studies from our schedule. Why is it that something so simple and enjoyable and educational is so easily dismissed by a busy mother as either too great an indulgence or of too little value to spend our time with?? 

 The birds flitted overhead. The crickets chirped below. The breeze blew in our hair. It was divine. It was Divine.

The two days were full but not stuffed. The time passed by but not too quickly.

So now I am back at home and quickly into the swing of our busy lives.

But settled. Trusting. Having a fresh appreciation for the living world. A better idea of what it looks like to include nature studies and living books in the sciences as part of our school curriculum. Eager to begin a new school year that is filled with living ideas. As one of the moms so wisely stated, we are not educating only toward college, but toward LIFE.

A whole life. One to be pursued with passion.