CiRCE 2012

Part of our summer travels this year included attending the Circe conference in Louisville (where we also got to visit with some much-loved extended family). I got the impression that a lot of people go to Circe for the discussions of the "big picture," and I certainly enjoyed those conversations as well. However - and I guess this is just my introvert self showing, as I spend too much time in my own head contemplating life, the universe, and everything as it is - I found myself most enjoying the more practical talks I attended, probably because I have a hard time getting down to implementation on my own. Two sessions I attended in particular renewed my Charlotte Mason enthusiasm.

Fall Creek Falls

The first was a talk by Dr. Paula Flint, founder of a school in Arlington, TX. Hearing Dr. Flint describe how Charlotte Mason methods have facilitated their full-inclusion model at her school was incredibly exciting and really affirmed my increasing conviction that CM methods could be the key to bringing a classical curriculum to the low-income population (which generally has quite varied academic needs) we hope to serve with our own school some day. I like so much about her school's mission statement:

"The mission of the Flint Academy is to provide an education in the classical tradition for all students regardless of their learning needs, integrated with a Christian worldview, having the Scriptures at the center, and presented in a family oriented, nurturing environment."

Rock Island State Park

The second session was Cindy Rollins' Morning Time talk. I need to renew my commitment to only listen to advice from homeschooling moms who have actually graduated a few kids! Their perspective is so much healthier than a lot of what I can/do waste my time reading on the interwebs. Cindy's talk inspired me to add a few more things to my not-preschool plans for the year. These plans have us starting in mid-August, and I hope to post some of them by then for some kind of accountability (more practically, I'm also sharing them with Bob). Also, I am totally stealing Cindy's line that "morning time is for when you are in prison and the rats are eating your toes."