Motherhood in Summer
From the Alveary Team:
In her biography of Mason, Essex Cholmondley tells us that, as soon as the spring term was over, Charlotte Mason herself left Ambleside, along with Elsie Kitching. She traveled to Bad Nauheim in Germany, where she stayed for six weeks to take mineral baths and to rest. She spent her days reading, writing, soaking, and riding about the countryside. (Ourselves was actually written while Mason was on holiday!) She would travel around to places close by and view the landscape and architecture, see concerts, attend lectures, and go to museums.
Mason took this break unapologetically, telling the people who counted on her back home that she could not continue her work without this annual break. And it’s true. You can’t keep giving without ever stopping to fill yourself up again. So, for all of you moms and teachers, the first item is to stop and rest. Sleep in. Take naps. Go get a massage, a new hairdo, or a manicure. See friends. Sit by the pool. Snuggle the kids. Read something for your own pleasure. Don’t think about school at all. How long depends on how tired and burned out you feel. It may be a week, or it may be a month. Mason had health issues that perhaps required a longer break, but your body will let you know what it needs if you listen. Once you feel rested and ready to do something, you need to nourish yourself by reading, listening to music, or going to concerts, being outside, going to museums, etc. Even if you can’t afford to leave town, you need beauty.
And then you can turn your attention to getting ready for a new school year. Read the Reflective Practice Plan Book, and watch those webinars you wanted to see during the school year. Flip through all the new books coming in and read a few of them. Organize your lesson plans and school supplies. By the way, not everything has to be about school—if cleaning out the closet, painting the kitchen, or re-doing the flower bed will give you a sense of accomplishment and joy, then you should do it.
Let us know in the Hive how you have been spending your summer!
Notes:
- Geography: A correction has been made to Term 3 Grade 7 Geography. You will need to redownload/reprint that term to see the changes (or redownload the course to the Syllabird portal).
- Syllabird Lesson Plans: If you're an Alveary+ member renewing from last year and don't see the new courses, please reach out to Contact Us! Also, if you’re new to Syllabird (or want a refresh), check out these handy tutorials on getting started with your Alveary Planning: Alveary+ Basics & Alveary+ Advanced.
- 2024-25 Members: All 2024–25 lesson plans will be removed from the website on June 30. Be sure to download or import them into Syllabird before then! Also, renew your membership by June 30 to stay in the Hive.
- Summer Reading List: Join us for some intentional reading this summer. This summer reading list is a curated list of titles from our high school book list to encourage you as an educator and lifelong learner! Enjoy!
- Contact Us: Have questions about the Alveary curriculum? Don’t forget we are always happy to answer your questions. Submit them here!
- Living Book Press Sale: Starting June 28, you'll be able to get 20% off books, and 50% off audiobooks. This includes the volumes in print and on audiobook as well as A Liberal Education for All by Dr. Carroll Smith. Shop here.
- Conference Volunteers:We’re thrilled to welcome many of you to this summer’s CMI Gathering, Guiding with Grace. We’re looking for volunteers: a photographer, pianist, and CM grads or young adults for a teen panel. If you or someone you know can help, please email kimberly@cminst.org
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Mason Quote:
If mothers could learn to do for themselves what they do for their children when these are overdone, we should have happier households. Let the mother go out to play! If she would only have courage to let everything go when life becomes too tense, and just take a day, or half a day, out in the fields, or with a favourite book, or in a picture gallery looking long and well at just two or three pictures, or in bed, without the children, life would go on far more happily for both children and parents. The mother would be able to hold herself in ‘wise passiveness,’ and would not fret her children by continual interference, even of hand or eye––she would let them be.” - Volume 3: School Education, pages 33-34
