The Joy of Making

Parke began her handcrafts journey when she started homeschool using the principals of Charlotte Mason. She expanded her talents in yarn crafts and sewing, and she has taught her children as she learned and has continued to teach many children these skills. Parke finds it rewarding to create a beautiful and useful product. Parke will spend a few minutes doing an overview of the history of handwork (including the Charlotte Mason programs), and then will move on to the importance of slowing down and handwork in our current society. Next, attendees will jump right into actually creating. Along the way, Parke will give advice on how to teach different ages and provide some helpful websites to help in further learning/practice. Parke hopes to inspire classroom teachers, parents, and students to try their hand at these crafts, and to take some of the fear of “not knowing how” away.

Anna will introduce you to Natural History Clubs. Learn about the resources provided, what it is like to have a club, and how to get one started.

We train our children in our Mason-inspired educating to love learning for life. In the process, our own lives are changed. We find ourselves with an awareness of how much more there is to learn and tingling with a desire to give expression to what we’ve discovered.

In this keynote, I will illustrate how a Mason education prepares both students and teachers for a lifetime of noticing, wondering and connecting that naturally inspires creativity. Setting a feast of ideas, fostering an atmosphere of questioning and curiosity, and putting in place the habit of keeping notebooks contributes to lifelong learning and lifelong creating.

I will share how I am now living my life, post-homeschooling, as a ceramic artist and how all those years of teaching were the perfect preparation. The designs that appear in my pottery are rooted in my Mason education. They reflect the buildings that I taught in Architecture, the Nature Study lessons from my neighborhood, the poetry from recitation and the characters from great books. What a world is set before us!

Have you ever wished you had the power at your fingertips to craft the perfect printed piece currently missing from your homeschool atmosphere? Perhaps it’s a lovely print-off of a recitation, a visually-enticing version of a student schedule, or a customized planning page that perfectly curates the week’s outlook. Curriculum artist Jenny Erb is determined to help you unleash your inner designer at this dynamic Fireside Chat so you can bring your envisioned homeschool pieces to life. 

Attendees will have the chance to express real-life needs and hear Jenny’s go-to online resources in response. She’ll share decades’ worth of tips and tricks for navigating digital design and help attendees understand basic design rules, all while contemplating what Miss Mason might say about championing the use of digital tools to elevate the aesthetic appreciation of educational materials. Don't miss out on this opportunity to discover just how easy it can be to bring beauty and creativity into your home atmosphere.

Charlotte Mason related, “An idea is…a spiritual germ endowed with vital force - with power…to grow, and to produce after its kind”  (Vol. 1, p. 172). In a Charlotte Mason history education, we provide rich resources to give children and teens awakening ideas, for history “…is a subject which should be to the child an inexhaustible storehouse of ideas…” (p.279).

We may access worthy ideas through well-written living literature, including stories by an author “who saw and knew something of what he wrote about, and did not get it at secondhand.” We also access them through “…great human relationships, relationship of love and service, of authority and obedience, of reverence and pity and neighborly kindness; relationship to kin and friend and neighbor…”  (Vol. 3, Chapter 8).

Since a child’s history education begins with her own country, with her own people, let us develop these human relationships in history education by incorporating the stories of a child’s own family and community - parents, grandparents, and elders who experienced key events in history.  Listening to the stories of our elders will help children find their place in history, integrate family cultures into education, and make historical events come alive with real-life experiences from people students know.  Charlotte Mason-educated teens are also richly qualified to record these stories for their generation.  They have honed the habit of attention and skill of narration while reading the highest-quality living literature so that their own writing, when cultivated, will be worthy of joining the ranks of great past historians!  

Charlotte Mason explains the great futures of students taught with living ideas:

“If we will approach them with living thought, living books, if we will only awaken in them the sense of personal relation, there are thousands of boys and girls to-day capable of becoming apostles…great archeologists who will make the past alive for us and make us aware in our souls of men who lived thousands of years ago.”  

This workshop will present Charlotte Mason’s philosophy on living history writing which sparks ideas and ultimately teaches “principles whereby [the student] will hereafter judge of the behavior of nations and will rule his own conduct as one of a nation” (Vol. 1, p. 279). We will consult current research on how families impact identity and character. We will read and narrate excellent examples of history writing, including Plutarch’s Lives. Lastly, teen students will be given time to bring all of this knowledge together by writing their own narrations of their own family’s history - encouraged to become the storykeepers of this generation!

Exams are not a topic we hear much about in Mason settings. We know we are supposed to give them, but what else? Let’s explore the Mason archives together to see what we can learn about Mason’s assessment methods. Are exams the same today? Are there any insights to gain?

Relationship with Things. What does that look like? In this seminar, Danielle will focus on the essential roles of knowledge, curiosity, and culture.  These are not optional considerations in a Mason science program, but the heart of livingness. Participants will examine how Mason's plan provides for the growth of the person and even answers contemporary needs, so that science might be fulfilling rather than a requirement.

The use of living books is a cornerstone of Mason's philosophy, but what is a living book? What is it that imbues a piece of literature with this characteristic? Is livingness about the book or the reader? Join a diverse collaboration of educators as we consider these vital ideas.

Join Dr. J Carroll Smith, founder of CMI, and Dr. Deani Van Pelt to learn about the accreditation process and its significance.

As a follow-up to her keynote presentation, Making a Life: Working by Hand and Discovering the Life You Are Meant to Live, Melanie Falick invites you to join her in a more intimate conversation. Melanie will share examples of how she and many others have naturally melded creative pursuits into the rhythms of their days while giving us a vision for the types of relationships our children may grow to have with handwork. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and discuss ideas with Melanie and others through guided and interactive discourse.

Charlotte Mason said that the knowledge of God ranks first in importance over the study of man and the study of the universe. This session will look at Mason’s understanding of the child as an active, worshiping being in relationship to God in Christ. We will explore the spiritual life of the child, the correct use of Bible lessons throughout the grades, and our role as parents and teachers in the spiritual formation of our children and students. We will also talk about the way a Mason education builds a Christian worldview through the methods, curriculum, and atmosphere.

Have you dreamed about starting a Charlotte Mason school or micro-school but don't know where to start? Join an experienced school start-up mentor and hear about the current services available to support you along your journey. We will spend time addressing concerns and answering your questions honestly.

Are you curious about the Blue Orchard Bee? Are you familiar with the resource and would like to meet other Mason educators with similar experiences? Let's begin the conference by getting to know each other better! We'll answer questions, chat about concerns, scope out the conference schedule together, and more.

Using sources such as the Parents’ Review, L’Umile Pianta, Essex Cholmondeley’s The Story of Charlotte Mason, and Mason’s Homeschooling Series, this workshop will explore Miss Mason’s ideas of the lifelong learning habits of a Mason educator. To illustrate these principles, we will survey Mary L. G. Petrie Carus-Wilson’s work for the PNEU. Mary was a contributor to the Parents’ Review as a single woman. Miss Mason recommended Mary’s College By Post to her students and alumni of the House of Education to further their education. After marrying and having children, Mary was an active PNEU member, joining conferences as well as lecturing at local chapters. She once lectured in the United States on Mason’s House of Education. We will look at connections between Mason’s recommendations for the teacher’s continuing education and Mary’s life, habits, and writings. Participants can reflect on ways this expands their understanding of their own education and how they can implement these principles in their lives.

How do Picture Study and Art connect in your classroom? Do they live side-by-side, aware of each other, but rarely speaking? Or do they work together, the way a great piece of literature informs a well-worded narration? Mason says “A narration should be original as it comes from the child – that is, his own mind should have acted upon the matter it has received” (Vol. 1, p289). The same holds true for Picture Study and Art.  Studying an artist’s work for six weeks allows a student to hear the artist’s voice through each brushstroke, color and subject choice.  This in-depth knowledge will then inspire the student’s artwork, allowing them to "act upon the matter it has received."

In this workshop, attendees will be given the tools to set up a yearly course of Picture Study and Art lessons that are a hands-on narration of the masters. The act of creating builds a bond that will be remembered. When your student next goes to an art gallery and sees the art they emulated, they will feel they are seeing an old friend.

This practical immersion aims to seamlessly bridge Mason's educational philosophy to real-world implementation. In the first segment, we'll outline key aspects of Mason's methods, emphasizing the pivotal role of philosophy in guiding method. Attendees will then step into the shoes of students, actively participating in lessons across several subjects. Lisa and Priscilla will conduct these lessons, followed by insightful discussions on the methodology employed, fostering a deeper understanding of the practical application of Charlotte Mason's educational principles in both home and classroom settings.

I teach 5th and 6th grade at a Charlotte Mason school (Crestwood Day School in Birmingham, AL) and have been there for 10 years. I would love to give a glimpse into a day in my class. I will do short lessons covering history, geography, literature, picture study, and a handcraft. The attendees will narrate, work on mapping skills, and begin a handicraft. I will also do a little bit of teaching on various forms of narration that can be done in a classroom setting. If time allows, we will talk about reflective practice in the classroom by teachers and students.

Ms. Mason reminded us that “we cannot live sanely unless we know that other people are as we are with a difference.” Never before has there been such a time and need to embrace our differences and learn from them. Thankfully, technology and design can be a beautiful tool in this process. Nicole Cottrell, founder and curator of Stories of Color, a search engine for diverse living books and resource for Charlotte Mason homeschoolers, invites you to discover how she embraced digital design and creativity, along with the desire to fulfill a need for representation, to develop a platform that serves thousands of families in over 100 countries. Whether it’s a passion project or the practice of Scholé, in this session, you will gain insight into practically leveraging technology, coupled with your creativity, to create beauty and cultivate belonging in the world where there perhaps wasn’t any before. As a group, we will uncover your unique passions (15 minutes), create a vision and model for utilizing digital tools (15 minutes), and help crystallize how to incorporate our individual stories to make a lasting impact in our communities both near and far (15 minutes).

Running a successful business in this digital age is an ambitious task and one that seems at first rather far from Charlotte Mason. However, upon closer inspection, her method of education proves to be an excellent springboard for students to become entrepreneurs and business leaders. In this workshop, Nadia Cerdas will highlight the benefits of narration, living ideas, and handicrafts in preparing students for creating their own businesses. From her unique perspective of running her own business as a Charlotte Mason student, she will share how students can best begin their own entrepreneurial journey and ways that parents can help their students cultivate the skills needed for the digital age of business through a living education.

In the midst of growing possibilities in the field of education, Cimarron School of Living Education, an Alveary school established in 2021, quickly became a catalyst for educational change in our community. Families needed more for their children than the “one size fits all” learning model in public education. Across our nation, teachers and students alike are leaving the traditional school system, looking for programs that more closely align with their values and needs. But not all children find their way to the programs that they need to prosper and grow. Despite the increasing availability of exciting and new educational paradigms, many children with physical or developmental disabilities are turned away. For this reason, Cimarron developed the Mason Inclusion Program. Rooted in Charlotte Mason’s precept that “children are born persons,” this program is dedicated to applying this principle in the inclusive modern classroom. Cimarron is continually working towards the successful and full inclusion of children with physical or developmental disabilities through a number of pathways, including: small class sizes, child-specific accommodation and intervention plans, additional inclusion program staff, and classroom teachers dedicated to the academic, social, and emotional development of every student. At Cimarron, our primary goal reflects Charlotte Mason’s appeal to “produce a human being who is the best he can be physically, intellectually, ethically and spiritually; a person who will have the enthusiasm of religion, full life, nature, knowledge, art, and physical work.” During this session, Cimarron will discuss creating an educational culture where all children can come to the feast, while sharing our experiences and providing key steps and takeaways for implementing inclusion programs in your learning community. This session will primarily be beneficial to classroom teachers and/or administrators.

Melanie Falick will lead a discussion about finding inspiration for nature-based handwork projects in one’s own backyard and/or neighborhood and using those projects to teach skills and ideas and inspire curiosity. She will begin by talking about her own recent experiences, including learning how to grow and forage for natural dyes and how to make baskets and trellises using local plant materials. Then she will brainstorm with participants about resources that might spark interest in their own environs and how they can use them as jumping-off points for many types of lessons, including basic life skills, history, science, sociology, art, and mathematics.

Melanie Falick has been working as an author, editor, and creative director in the fields of craft and creativity for 25+ years. In that capacity, she has worked with all types of makers, including knitters, sewists, weavers, painters, potters, woodworkers, welders, basketmakers, natural dyers, and many more. She has experienced firsthand the pleasure and meaning of making and its power to give our lives authenticity and meaning, and she has studied the ways in which the role of making has evolved over time, reflecting changes in technology, economics, and cultural norms. 

For this keynote, she will share stories about her own personal and professional journey guided by her passion for handwork; she will explain why she believes so strongly that handwork is a key pathway to individual, community, and environmental wellness in the 21st century (and devotes much of her time to spreading this message); and she will provide us with practical ideas for incorporating handwork into our children’s educational curricula as well as our own lifelong learning practices.

The term Affrilachia itself (which denotes being Black in Appalachia) is more than 30 years old. For nearly 15 years, Marie T. Cochran has been engaged in the act of building a creative network across the region as founder of the Affrilachian Artist Project.  In her talk, Cochran will share the story of this cultural movement and explore how a sense of place is a vital ingredient for community.

The focus of the session is the development and importance of resilience, nurtured through creative processes in different areas of life, from the arts to business management. While maintaining a core focus on Charlotte Mason's educational philosophies, the presentation will explore how hands-on activities, problem-solving, and the joy of making contribute to building resilience.

The session will use examples from culinary arts and operations management to illustrate these concepts, emphasizing that creativity and resilience are not confined to traditional artistic pursuits but are integral to success and adaptability in various fields. The hands-on component of the session will serve as an illustrative element, providing a tangible example of the concepts discussed.

Mason tells us “the business of Restlessness is to strengthen and harden the muscles,” and refers also to the demon of Restlessness when “they cannot settle to any kind of work or play”.* She teaches us that Rest takes a turn to lead us to be “refreshed and ready for anything. Thus the muscles take such turns of work and rest as help them to grow and become strong.” Mason was keen on having the students and teachers engage in physical exercise with plenty of time spent in active movement and calming times spent outdoors: a practice which is underscored by modern understandings for a healthy body and mind. One approach I have learned is the practice of yoga which allows a blending of physical activity and a quiet mind. My yoga mat has proven to be a place where I can exercise my body, train my mind to be calm, and yield it to God as an offering, indeed even a prayer. 

This class will include a 50 minute session with time to engage with our bodies in the middle of the mental work of a conference. There will be time for quiet reflection and prayer as well as active muscle work. This will help us learn to titrate between rest and activity, a skill which we can take off the mat and into the rest of our day. A yoga mat or towel will be helpful.

*Ourselves, "Our Souls and Bodies," chapter 3

During this one hour session, attendees will make a simple notebook. They will gain experience with different types of paper and book binding. Having a variety of choices when assembling one’s own book allows for creativity and decision-making; making the book itself lends a note of satisfaction to using or giving notebooks. As George MacDonald puts it, “the … exercise of his mind through his fingers”.*

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“All of Mason’s practices appear to be carefully considered for their ability to nurture what the child already has within him, including imagination, and one suspects the effect of their synergy is nothing short of remarkable. “ The Living Page by Laurie Bestvater, p 103

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*The History of Gutta Percha Willie, the Working Genius

In the late 1800’s, Charlotte Mason wrote that “[Languages] should be acquired as English is, not as a grammar, but as a living speech.” Today, many language teachers are using Comprehensible Input Methods, which utilize pictures and stories to maximize language acquisition. These Comprehensible Input Methods mirror Charlotte's perspectives towards language learning, and parents can draw from these strategies to help their children gain a second or third language. Is the idea of teaching a second language intimidating? Through this workshop, parents and educators will learn practical ways to immerse their children in everyday modern language, even during handicrafts! Examples will be in French, but can be adapted to any language.

Bilingual, bicultural and/or Hispanic Charlotte Mason educators will be able to jump start a plan for a Charlotte Mason education that is faithful to their origins, languages and/or cultures. The attendees will work with a Hispanic Charlotte Mason educator brainstorming about their cultural background, their family and national history, and their points of connection with Charlotte Mason principles in a 21st century school or home school room. Research about language acquisition and bilingualism among Heritage speakers and others will be addressed as well. Additionally, basic tenets of a Charlotte Mason education within a Hispanic and/or bilingual household in the USA will be evaluated in the light of areas of interest or personal concern. A next step will be school subjects, themes or topics of study, and potential resources that are culturally relevant and pertinent to a Charlotte Mason education. The appropriate application of the Charlotte Mason principles within a Hispanic or bilingual/bicultural school or home school room will be particularly important to address cultural myths and ideas about education, religion, and the upbringing of children in a digital age.

The life-changing Charlotte Mason philosophy of education can not only transform a person as a parent and educator but it can also produce unforeseen results beyond geographical boundaries in our current digital age. That is my experience as a Hispanic immigrant in the USA, and later as a Charlotte Mason home educator. I will share about mu educational experience as a bilingual and bicultural Hispanic Charlotte Mason home educator in the USA developing a Charlotte Mason curriculum that reflects my identity. I will also share our efforts and challenges in Spanish-speaking countries to develop a Charlotte Mason curriculum that reflects a national identity that surpasses regional bounds. Attendees will be able to hear about and explore some digital resources to create community--both virtual and local-- where there is none, and possibly glean some inspiration and encouragement when desperate need and total dependence on God boosts your creativity to a whole new level.

The practical and simple method of picture study is an important gateway to other methods and subjects in our learning journey.  As a current MA graduate student, it has been wonderful to put together recent research and scientific information about the learning process and biological function of the brain with what Charlotte Mason had declared in her Philosophy of Education almost two centuries prior.  I would like to share how her Picture Study activity can create not only a habit of attention but increase a child’s observational skills and promote a foundation of neuropathways towards the educational science of relations.  It can also be a delightful source for various types of learners to benefit from; a visual, auditory or kinesthetic child.

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The artist selected for this immersion is one that has used multiple mediums for their art.  Review of Charlotte Mason's method and how it relates to modern brain-based learning will take about 15-20 minutes. An art print will be selected for the active 10-15 minute picture study portion and then another 15 minutes will be used to draw a different art piece with home made charcoal.  The remaining time will be used for questions or comments.

In this session Jennifer Ritter will use the stories of several incarcerated artists to show how the creation of art can impact an individual. I hope that through this experience attendees will gain an appreciation for art as an important part of the human experience and a method by which individuals have relationships with others and themselves. I hope that participants will be inspired to include art in their schools and lives. Attendees may also see examples of “the possibility of reform for others, and in the use of simple, practical means.” Mason was not referring to the practice of art here, of course, but for many artists, their creative acts do become those “simple, practical means.” And so we see the “spring of conduct common to us all,” and we know to keep expecting well of others (Vol. 3, pp. 86-87).

Charlotte Mason was not the first to recognize that “every fruitful idea” and “every original conception” might be a direct inspiration from the Holy Spirit, but she may have been the first to articulately and persuasively encourage us to engage this idea as it applies to education. In this interactive session, we will explore and identify aspects of the fresco (c. 1365-68) that moved Mason to recognize the connection between the source and types of knowledge and the implications for educators. We will conclude this colourful workshop on Charlotte Mason’s Great Recognition with probing the questions of whether and in what ways Andrea da Bonaiuti’s fresco at Santa Maria Novella in Florence, Italy, still holds relevance for education today. If you are feeling discord as you raise your children and educate your students in these times of rapid change and secularization, this session may be just for you!

Charlotte Mason believed every child should take “delight in making” with his or her hands, and that this elemental relationship should include power over materials such as “…wood, brass, iron…” (Vol. 3, p. 80). How do we take our ideas for making and turn them into reality? 

Luke will demonstrate how to draw a design, transfer it to wood and then carve and finish it with hand tools.  This activity is perfect for teens or for parents to complete at home with their children, creating a simple and safe object for play, display, or nature exploration.  Participants will complete several steps of the creation process to practice creating with wood and bring home their own wooden replica knives! As Luke guides participants through this concept-to-reality demonstration, he will offer insights on understanding each student’s unique giftings as born persons, and incorporating them productively into the work they do.

Crafting is a joyful activity but it often uses a lot of materials. In this Immersion, attendees will learn skills to creatively and artistly craft with pre-used paper. Heather will provide a display of raw pre-used materials and finished products. She will discuss handicrafts across the Charlotte Mason curriculum and a rational for inclusion. Attendees will then have the opportunity to create one of several crafts (Zine, Glossy Rolled Paper Beads, Accordion Book, or Upcycled Literature. Finally, Heather will lead a discussion about the benefits, habits, service, resources, and adaptations of handicrafts.

In this Workshop, attendees will learn the history of the Sol-fa system, current research and practice, and how Charlotte Mason scheduled this aspect of education.   

Sol-fa lessons from warm up through advanced will be demonstrated with optional participation. 

There will also be time for discussion and sharing resources used by Mason as well as modern options, a visual showing use of singing across the curriculum, Sol-fa Modulator and Staff Modulator.

Keeping notes on nature has been an enduring habit of mine. I began with gardening journals and moved on to different forms of nature journals, calendars of firsts, and eventually teaching nature journaling in classrooms and field settings.

In this workshop, we will explore many facets of nature journaling. Attendees will gain a broad overview of nature journaling and its many forms in Charlotte Mason Education. You will be enabled to flourish in nature journaling and guide others in several forms of journaling.

(20 min) What did Charlotte Mason say about the habit of nature journaling? What forms of information gathering can be included in a journal? What growth happens in nature journaling from form zero through the adult years?

(15 min) What can you do to help foster the habit of nature journaling? This portion will include a demonstration of a guided object lesson - participation encouraged!

(10 min) You will observe growth in nature journaling as we follow a few journalers through time. Journal entry examples from the 21st century will be presented in chronological order as the student ages and develops. This portion includes a slide show of both modern nature journal entries and entries from the historic Armitt Records.

(10 Min) Discussion

God’s beauty can be found in the rolling hills and green pastures, in the rushing rivers and flower-filled meadows. Yet, it can also be found among high-rise buildings, honking horns, and fast-paced city life. How is this even possible? Because God’s beauty is everywhere. We need only to train our eyes to discover the beauty of urban nature and delight in it.

In this one hour immersive, Erika will walk participants through experiencing and appreciating God's creation, wherever they may be - including the Asbury campus.

Masterly Inactivity is an important pillar of Mason’s educational philosophy and one that is supported by abundant research today, but what is it exactly? Using Mason’s own words, we will seek to understand what Masterly Inactivity is and is not, separating the reality from internet myths, before relating it to present day research on child development. We will move from theory to practice by looking at how Masterly Inactivity changes as a child moves from toddler, to preschool, to school-age, and even on towards adulthood. Finally, attendants will consider their own children’s ages and stages and workshop possible ways to use Masterly Inactivity to reduce household friction while also providing more opportunities for healthy growth and development of the child.

We all know Charlotte Mason’s Home Education series, but few know that she also wrote advice to parents on how to support children once they moved into a school setting. When children graduate from homeschool and move to other educational settings, Mason warns of pitfalls parents can fall into and encourages habits they should adopt in order to continue to nurture their children’s growth and deepen familial relationships. If you are graduating your first child or sending a child to school, this is for you. We’ll read Mason’s writings to parents in just this situation to discuss the benefits and consider how we can put them into practice in our own homes.

Charlotte Mason wrote that “what worked even fifty years ago will not work today, and what fulfills our needs today will not serve fifty years hence” (School Education, 45-6). Mason recognized that she was a product of her times and she attempted to use the products of her time to educate her students. (Did you know that Charlotte and her staff had a wireless radio installed at Scale How when the technology was still very new?) Mason’s philosophy allows for the use of current tools to aid us as we create. If Mason were alive today, how might she incorporate the tools of our time into daily education? What would she say about technology? We’ll examine some pertinent passages from Mason’s writings, look at case studies from among our own students who have produced art pieces both by hand and with digital technology, and discuss together how we can use digital tools alongside tools that have stood the test of time. Let’s distinguish between single-use and multi-use technology, online and offline, interactive and passive, etc., and think together about the ways in which technology might serve our creative expression. Suitable for educators and parents with students of all ages.

As authors, we would be honored to sit and have a discussion about our monograph with anyone who has read it (or would like to) to discuss what we wrote and to expand together upon what still might be said on this subject!

Cultivating a keen sense of attention is part of the foundation of a Mason education. Narration, picture study, and nature study rely on the habit of attention. Recognizing and respecting personhood demands the educator to notice and appreciate the particularities of the student. This skill (or perhaps it is an art?) of paying attention is also the key to a joyful life. How can a Mason educator or student capitalize on this habit of attention to fully enjoy life? Is pleasure important? Are we meant to be happy? How do we be happy when our lives are quite ordinary and our worlds seem small? When I discovered St. Thérèse of Lisieux (sometimes known as the Little Flower Saint) a few years ago, she reminded me of Mason. She is a woman of faith who has discovered the secret to happiness. Come discover how St. Thérèse of Lisieux can help us utilize Charlotte Mason’s habit of attention to live a life of joy.

“We all have need to be trained to see, and to have our eyes opened before we can take in the joy that is meant for us in this beautiful life.” — Charlotte Mason

Brushdrawing is a beautiful way to capture the wonder of God’s creation. Now, in our 21st century, we can add another tool to our belt: the magic of photography.

During this practical immersion, teens are invited to learn how to photograph, edit, and store their digital images of nature, as they continue to develop their eyes to “see.” Our time together will include heading outdoors and applying the skills learned by taking photos of nature, which can then be used to curate a digital nature notebook.

Mason provides very definite ideas about what is to be taught and how we are to teach it, so it can be surprising and even heart-breaking when the "method" doesn't work. What are we to make of this and how are we to respond? In this workshop, Danielle will examine Mason's ideas, exploring theory and application on the journey to an answer. Participants will leave with encouragement, understanding, practical strategies, and resources.

This session will discuss how Charlotte Mason’s philosophy empowers and enables families of all backgrounds to create a learning environment that is enriching, personalized and, ultimately, God glorifying. Educators will be empowered to bust racial myths centered around approaches to homeschooling as they explore the Charlotte Mason method as a catalyst for diversity, not a hindrance.

Practical advice and examples on how to choose books and movies that highlight diversity through a Charlotte Mason lens will be provided.  The workshop will conclude with a short artist study immersion and discussion of how/if it could be included in the feast.

History is not the past, but rather it is our interpretation of the past. We can do more than just read history with our children; we can immerse them in the process of making history and help them develop historical empathy. In her volumes, Miss Mason referred to these skills when she said we must “let [our children] get the spirit of history into them” by learning how to “think the thoughts of [the people from the past and be] at home in the ways of that period.” 

This workshop will focus on how we can replicate that immersive learning experience Mason wrote about for our children. We will explore what history is, how it is made and how and why we should encourage our children to participate in this history making process, and how Miss Mason's principles for the study of history study support these ideas. You will leave this workshop equipped to teach your children how to utilize primary, secondary and tertiary sources, navigate diverse historical perspectives, apply historical inquiry, contextual and chronological thinking and develop other research skills needed to think and create like a historian.

“The question is not, -- how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education -- but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?”

-Charlotte Mason, School Education

Charlotte Mason compelled us to build large rooms with our children in order to spread the wide feast of a living education. Through living books, history, note-booking, and handicrafts, we can lay a feast that welcomes many different people. In this hour-long workshop, we will read and learn about the travels of Marco Polo while weaving in traditional stories from the “Silk Road”. We’ll discuss the various places that Marco Polo visited and create two versions of loose leaf tea based on the countries from his travels. During our conversations, we’ll discuss the impact of crafts across various regions and how practically implementing cultural handicrafts in our homes will help us better know and love others.

Food, glorious food! Food and cooking are among the most captivating subjects and one of life’s greatest joys. Far more than a merely utilitarian necessity, food is a daily practical opportunity for endless discovery, hands-on delightful engagement with real, natural things, and relating to self and others.

“No pains should be spared to make the hours of meeting round the family table the brightest hours of the day,” as Miss Mason taught. Recognizing that children are persons means they are not vessels to be filled (literally) against their wills, nor animals to be conditioned behaviorally with rewards and punishments. Instead, we have within reach Charlotte Mason’s legitimate tools of an atmosphere of respect, the discipline of the essential habits, and a life to nourish, respecting the body no less than mind, soul, and spirit. 

To be healthy, there’s no need to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and eat it anyway. When we create the right conditions, children, like contented sheep in a pasture, will willingly eat without urging or bribing. How do we “make duty lovely,” as Miss Mason said, while forming their appetites for what’s truly nourishing and fostering positive relationships with food? Join us in exploring how Miss Mason’s principles of educating children apply equally to feeding them and can profoundly transform a child’s life.

One of the major tenets of a Charlotte Mason education is that education is the science of relations (Cooper, 2004). Children benefit richly from taking part in meaningful and purposeful activities that allow them to experience connections in all aspects of life. Take for example, the gourd. Gourds provide a surprising opportunity for children to make their own connections across many subject areas while also encouraging them to experience wonder and delight. Scientific evidence reveals that gourds, specifically hard-shelled gourds from the family Lagenaria, have been part of human history for thousands of years. Originating in Africa and floating across the ocean to other continents, gourds have been used as containers, tools, musical instruments, art, and even brain surgery.

The workshop presenters have experienced the remarkable synthesis of science, nature, and craftsmanship by growing and using gourds on campus in Baltimore. Our experiments are just beginning but have included historical inquiry, horticultural knowledge, and classroom integration with several grade levels so far. The work embodies Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of holistic, interconnected learning, with a strong focus on time spent outdoors, observing changes and fostering curiosity. In addition, gourds provide vast opportunities for handwork projects that support a child’s development at all stages.

Participants in this immersive experience will be creating a shekere, an instrument used in African and South American cultures, while learning the many ways that gourds can tie into curriculum. The hands-on activity will include beading techniques that will allow personal expression and incorporate bi-lateral hand use.

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Participants will be provided with gourds, cord, and beads and should bring their own scissors if possible.

If the thought of teaching Latin seems daunting, take heart—Latin does not have to be a grind! In this immersion, participants will experience a living Latin lesson for beginners using Latine Loquor: I Speak Latin by Andrew Campbell. This fully scripted, TPR-based resource is especially well-suited for family lessons or group instruction. No prior experience needed! Afterwards, we'll debrief and distill some guiding principles for evaluating resources and implementing a living approach to Latin in your home or school. We’ll conclude with a round of Q & A. Through this immersion, I hope to encourage and equip you to add a little Latin to your life. In the process, you may discover that Latin isn't dead—it is immortal!

“Every child has a natural appetite for all things beautiful. Handicrafts are the natural expression of this craving for beauty." - Charlotte Mason 

Mason emphasized the importance of handicrafts for the joy and triumph derived from handling tools and creating  beautiful things. With this vision in mind, why not nurture these skills to prepare an inviting space for Gospel-driven hospitality within the sanctuary of our homes? 

During this workshop, designed with homeschool moms in mind, we will explore Ms. Mason's philosophy and method regarding handicrafts for Forms 1-3 and its application in fostering hospitality within our homes. Following this 45-minute presentation, participants will engage in a 15-minute hands-on activity and Q&A, aimed at equipping participants with a personalized action plan to envision gospel-driven hospitality as a beautiful outcome of integrating handicrafts into their Charlotte Mason homeschool education.

Charlotte Mason wrote, “Poetry takes first rank as a means of intellectual culture.” Still, even as we begin to recognize the power of poetry to heal and guide, we can struggle to morph a school lesson with our children into a meaningful pursuit apart from dissecting each verse to bits. But slowly, nearly imperceptibly, we start to truly experience poetry. In this session, I’ll share my journey as we discuss the role of poetry in our children’s lives and our own. Mason said, “A thousand thoughts that burn come to us on the wings of verse." Let’s see if we can capture a few!

Today’s digital age has ushered in many positive changes to society while also bringing many difficulties that gravely impact the ability for people to connect well. One way to grow in this area is through showing hospitality. This fireside chat will be a lively discussion focused on three main areas:

First, we will discuss the role of hospitality in our homes and lives. We’ll consider how hospitality fosters deep connections and can help us grow the habit of paying attention.

Second, we’ll discuss the creative ways one can show hospitality using their unique skills and passions.

Third, I will share practical ways to be hospitable through one’s home design. Attendees will leave with renewed vision for hospitality in their own lives and ideas on how to incorporate hospitality in their home design.

“I don’t have enough _______.” Fill in the blank: tools, resources, money, time, a big enough house, learning and know-how, credibility, talent, and joy in what I do.

And so, what happens? We do nothing. We sink into self-pity and stream a show or order something we think we need on Amazon. But the truth is that you and I have more than enough. When we change our mindset from “I don’t have enough” to “Use Your Tools,” we discover new learning pathways and a new understanding of joy.

Use Your Tools is a stewardship attitude that empowers us with contentment, inspires us with imagination, and challenges us to edit. It is a gesture of bounty in a world of scarcity. This mindset reveals the truth that Joy signifies life itself. Joy is the movement of beauty. Joy in making reaches beyond feelings of delight. It is the ring of truth resounding as you discover what you were created to do. C.S. Lewis described humans as builders—makers in a land of destroyers. But in the digital world, young and old alike are encouraged to spectate instead of participating. How can we regain our birthright as builders?

In this talk, I’ll break down the Use Your Tools mantra and show how we can use it as a clarion call to reclaim created identity as makers while giving practical insights for curating spaces of imagination and beauty.

Whether it is jars of rose petal jelly, a batch of lavender soap, or a quilt made from antique linens that once belonged to my mother and grandmother, I have personally experienced the joy and satisfaction of being a maker. I’ve also noted the pleasure and grace of being the recipient of someone else’s making, as I once unwrapped a beautiful pair of Norwegian styled hand knit mittens complete with carefully colour worked blue birds or as I held a speckled pottery bowl encircled with tiny Gothic windows crafted at a friend’s wheel. There was a sense of connection and even humility as I was gifted these things made by another. What is it about making that strikes at the core of being human? The inclusion of handicrafts as an essential part of a Charlotte Mason education may be surprising; yet it is an intentional component that needs to be thoughtfully considered. A Mason education, after all, teaches us how to live in the fullest sense. Therefore, I propose that handicrafts slowly and carefully teach useful skills and practical expertise, while fostering creativity and an appreciation for beauty. Even more timely is this: As part of a Mason education, handicrafts is our resistance against isolation, narcissism, and apathy. Engaging with the work of theologian Mary W. McCampbell, I propose that the act of making implicitly cultivates a sense of empathy, thus laying the groundwork for compassion and healthy community. This opens the door to tender and joyful connection to ourselves, to each other, and ultimately, Divine reality.