A Double Diamond Celebration

How exciting! I am hosting my first Charlotte Mason Carnival! Welcome to 'Under An English Sky' my fellow CMers.

Here in England, we have just come out of some very exiting celebrations. Our Queen has reigned for 60 years. What an achievement! England has been alive with bunting and anything and everything red, white and blue! Queen Elizabeth is the second queen in England's history to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee. The first was Queen Victoria who reigned very successfully from 1837 to her death in 1901.

As we watched all the pomp and ceremony - which nobody does quite like the British - it occurred to me that 115 years ago, Charlotte Mason was celebrating her Monarchs Diamond Jubilee too! She would have been 55 years old at the time. In this modern world, so many of us reach through time to glean all we can from this wonderful educator. 115 years on, we are celebrating the same rare event that she celebrated. The wheel of time turns and history repeats itself. Being very patriotic herself,I have no doubt that Miss Mason was an active participant in the celebrations of her Queen.

So it will come as no surprise to you that today's Charlotte Mason Carnival is a tribute to the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen of England - both past and present. Our Queen and Charlotte Masons Queen. A double diamond celebration.

First lets visit some wonderful ladies who have shared their insights on our principle theme for this carnivals edition. Principle 1 - Children are born persons. It almost seems like a too obvious thing to mention doesn't it? Yet schools today view children as 'blank slates' upon which to write and fill. Yet as we dig deeper in Miss Masons writings, so often I realise that because of my own personal experience of 'education', I have to guard against treating them like 'blank slates' waiting to be filled. I was encouraged to see that other moms feel the same and have some great insights into this topic.

 Lanaya from Delightful Education shares some great insights in her post 'Kids are People Too'.
Michelle over at The Holistic Homeschooler has written a great post sharing her thoughts on 'Charlotte mason Principle # 1: Children Are Born Persons'.
Roberta shares her post 'Why I think Charlotte Mason's Philosophy is Biblical' which, she says, actually ended up being a post on Principle #1!

Nature Study is a huge part of any Charlotte Mason inspired home school. We have been blessed as a family - as I know many of you have - to have our own modern day 'nature champion' who's talent it so guide and inspire so many of us in this field. Of course I am speaking of the Outdoor Hour Challenge. Barb has a great post on how we can beautify our nature journals. Pop over and read her 'Creating a Nature Journal' post for some creative inspiration. Barb has given us a 'Diamond Double' this month with a free Impressionist Painting Scavanger Hunt Notebooking Page over at her Harmony Art Mom blog.

Another 'Diamond Double' contributor this month is Angie from This Side of the Door. She has written two great posts which I found to be very inspiring. In 'Alex's Year 0 In Review - Geography', Angie shares their experience and personal insights in using Jane Andrews ' Seven Little Sisters Who Live on the Round Ball That Floats in the Air'. In Angie's own words 'it is a mouthful!' But I found this post to be a mouthful of inspiration and really enjoyed having a peek into how she taught Geography this year. Her second post, 'Lessons Learned in the Meantime', is a lovely account of how 'real life' can sometimes have us feeling that we have 'not done enough' and how when we look closely we can see how much we and our children actually have learnt!

'Shakespeare' has always been one of my perceived weaknesses. My own past experience has left me feeling quite inadequate to introduce my own children to his works. However the Lord is gracious and sent along a wonderful godly woman who has had loads of experience in introducing her own children and many besides, to Shakespeare's works. By attending these workshops together, we have discovered that Shakespeare is actually quite enjoyable. It is a delight to hear my children giggling at the humour and sharing with their father the story of our chosen play as it unfolds. With all that buzzing about my head, it was a delight to read Annie Kate's post 'Resources for Shakespeare's Hamlet'.

Well, that about wraps up our celebrations for today. I hope you glean as much insight from all these wonderful posts as I did!

Our next Carnival will be held on June 26th over at Piney Woods.
 If you have any insights on Principles 2,3 and 4 we would love to hear from you. 
Of course all CM posts are most welcome so please do send your carnival contributions to charlottemasonblogs@gmail.com

For a list of this years posting schedule, pop over to Amy's Fisher Academy International.
For further reading: Volume 2, Parents and Children - the whole thing! (if you don't have this volume you may read it here)