Ambleside Flourish Vol 3

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atAmbleside Autumn 2018

THE NEWSLETTER OF AMBLESIDE SCHOOLS INTERNATIONAL

toflourish Origin stories matter; they tell us from whence we’ve come and why we exist. For the Christian, they are reminders of God’s providential direction and provision.

What follows is the story of the founding of Ambleside School of Fredericksburg and of Ambleside Schools International, as told by Maryellen St. Cyr.

I was born an educator. Even as a young girl, I would invite the neighborhood children to “school” in our garage. It was thus quite natural for me to study education in college and then to teach at Christian schools. However, after ten years of teaching, like many teachers, I became disillusioned. The teacher across the hall was giving out a piece of candy for a correct answer. The teacher down the hall might demean a student for a wrong answer. Some sixth-grade classes were reading simpler books than their third-grade counterparts. Teachers were fundamentally eclectic, choosing practices from a variety of sources: personal preference, the latest book award, or what the media made popular. In sum, teachers were doing that which was right in their own eyes. Despite good intentions, children were spending 14,000 hours from kindergarten through high school with no consistent pedagogy, dependent on the practice and personality of teachers. Most of us can count on one hand the teachers in these years who made a significant contribution to our personal growth and maturity. “Surely, we could do

Ambleside Student Art

Beginnings... better,” I said to myself. I resigned at the end of the school year and began a personal pursuit to find a consistent philosophy and practice of education.

The ten-year journey that followed included visiting approximately fifty schools, observing the best teachers, taking notes and reflecting upon what I had seen and heard, completing a M.Ed. in curriculum development, and most importantly, an introduction to Charlotte Mason’s six volumes on education, parenting, and curriculum.

In these volumes, I found that for which I had been desperately searching, a thoroughly Christian philosophy and practice. Fervently, I immersed myself into study, and what I read on Tuesday I applied in the classroom on Wednesday. I began to change, and my students began to grow. School leadership took notice of these changes, and I was asked to begin teaching Charlotte Mason’s principles to other teachers. Susan Schaeffer Macaulay, author of For the Children’s Sake, visited my classroom and invited me to attend the summer session of the British branch of L’Abri. During my time in England,

I had the great privilege of having Susan as my tutor and traveling the English countryside with Elaine Cooper and Susan visiting remnants of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy in persons and places. continued on next page

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ith the experience of implementing Charlotte Mason’s methods in my own classroom and training others in these methods, I was offered a position as principal of a small Christian school in Atlanta. I accepted with the understanding that the school would be organized according to Charlotte Mason’s methods.

This was an important testing ground of what would become the methods employed in Ambleside schools. In the spring of 1999, after three fruitful years, I resigned my position as principal to pursue the vision of building a Charlotte Mason school from the ground up, a school which would also serve as a venue and model for training others in Charlotte Mason’s philosophy and methods. Knowing of my desire to consider the next steps, a couple from the small town of Fredericksburg, Texas, graciously offered their guest house as a place for me to reside.

That autumn, Charlotte Mason Schools International (CMSI) was incorporated with Susan and Ranald Macaulay, myself, and a small group of supporters serving as the initial board of directors.

It was my privilege to serve as Executive Director.

Throughout the 1999-2000 school year, I prayed and planned for the first Ambleside school, thinking that it would be located in northern Virginia near Washington, DC.While I was praying and planning, I was also leading a group of Fredericksburg parents in the study of Charlotte Mason’s principles. Unbeknownst to me, they had begun praying that I would establish an Ambleside school in Fredericksburg. In January of 2000, I traveled to northern Virginia to lead a conference for educators interested in Charlotte Mason’s ideas and methods.Three life-changing events occurred during this trip. First, it became clear to me that I would not be founding a school in northern Virginia. Second, I was introduced to the leaders of a “Charlotte Mason influenced” school in northern Virginia, now known as Ambleside School of McLean. And third, I was introduced to Bill St. Cyr, who eighteen months later would become my husband.

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pon returning to Fredericksburg, in February 2000, I announced my decision to remain in Fredericksburg and establish a school. Over the next months, many assisted in building momentum for the new school, and we witnessed God’s provision in remarkable ways. A month before the school opened, we still did not have a location. Then,

Beginnings...

Greater Life Christian Church, at 106 S. Edison Street, graciously opened their beautiful old red brick building to us. In September 2000, Charlotte Mason Schools International (CMSI), doing business as Ambleside School of Fredericksburg (ASF), opened a school with 28 students in grades three to nine. The school desks did not arrive until six weeks after classes had begun. So initially, students sat on the floor on little mats of carpet. When the desks and chairs arrived, there was such excitement.

It was as if Christmas had come early. It was a blessed year as children engaged “living ideas” through great books,

while surrounded by a vigorous and delightful atmosphere.

From the beginning, Ambleside’s mission extended beyond the boundaries of a single school.

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n its very first year, CMSI/ASF hosted Ambleside Internships, which are three-day training events for those interested in gaining a deeper understanding of Charlotte Mason’s principles and their application at an Ambleside school. In Ambleside School of Fredericksburg’s second year, the leadership of what is now Ambleside of McLean, Virginia, asked for on-going assistance in the consistent implementation of Charlotte Mason’s principles.

In the third year, a couple from San Angelo,Texas asked for help in establishing Ambleside of San Angelo. As interest in Ambleside continued to grow, it seemed prudent to separate the daily operations of Ambleside School of Fredericksburg from the developing work of fostering and supporting a growing movement of Ambleside schools. Thus, in 2005, Ambleside Schools International (ASI) was incorporated. Since that time, ASI has grown to a network of fourteen schools in the United States, six in South Africa, one in Nigeria, one in Austria, and, Lord willing, one in Calcutta, India beginning March 2019.

Additionally, Ambleside Homeschool has been established as a means of supporting those parents who desire an Ambleside education but live far from an Ambleside school.

As with any good work, there are always many hurdles to overcome. It has been a great blessing to see God’s provision in times of relative ease and in times of challenge.

At all times, the great joy has been to see so many children of varied backgrounds, giftings and abilities flourishing, for indeed, the work of Ambleside is “for the children’s sake.”

Maryellen St. Cyr, Founder

Ambleside School of Fredericksburg and Ambleside Schools International

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hen I look back over the course of my life, I can see the Lord’s hand guiding me to Charlotte Mason’s beautiful idea that “education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life.” In the spring of 2016, I experienced the transforming power of a living education.

For as long as I can remember, I have sensed a calling to teach. Throughout my career in public school, I would always ask the questions, “Why is this what is best for children?” and “Why are we doing this?” In my classroom, I was able to shape the environment around my eclectic philosophy and work toward the cultivation of skills and habits which I thought were central to student growth.

However, more often than not, the growth I prioritized stopped at my classroom door. Though I lacked a cohesive philosophy, I saw that there were several key elements my students responded to, which I kept in place year after year. These included great books, a calm environment, and time spent outside.

In April of 2016, I had the opportunity to attend an Ambleside three-day Internship in Colorado. During this experience, two decades of prayers focused on education were answered. Here was an atmosphere which promoted rigor and excellence in a non-stimulating environment; students were engaged in the discussion of ideas around rich literature and forming relationships with God, one another, ideas, work, and creation.

I knew I had to be a part of this movement in some way.

For the following year, I home-schooled my three children along with several friends and their children. Through the outstanding support and endless patience of Maryellen St. Cyr and Shannon Seiberlich, I learned and grew in my own understanding of this method. This was not dependent upon me, but rather a partnership with the Holy Spirit. As I learned, I grew, and I could see my children growing too.

This was more than an education; it enveloped every aspect of our family life seamlessly and beautifully.

After a time of prayer and reflection in the spring of 2017, my husband and I determined that it was our calling to start a school in Newberg, Oregon, rather than move to an already established Ambleside school.

In July 2017, I took our team of teachers to RiverTree School in Minnesota for the ASI Summer Institute, which is a week-long intensive where teachers engage in Charlotte Mason’s philosophy, become an Ambleside student, and after a week of observing, prepare their own lessons to teach. During this training, we had the opportunity to see and experience the practical application of the method as both a student and a teacher. There is a “why” behind everything we do at Ambleside. Every answer to the “why” points back to the three pillars:

atmosphere, discipline, and life.

On several occasions, parents have commented to me that Ambleside has given them a language to help in communicating with their children about academic, social, spiritual, or emotional growth.

They recognize and appreciate the consistency that flows between home and school.

For the past two decades I have worked with a range of students from preschool to post graduate.

I’ve trained and supported the work of pre-service teachers, those on plans of assistance and administrators. I’ve spent hundreds of hours in teacher trainings, observing in classrooms, studying best-practices and educational theory. The training and support offered by Ambleside Schools International is entirely set apart in method, philosophy, pedagogy, and overall quality. Through the ongoing support and training received from ASI, we in the Willamette Valley have experienced how powerful a living education can be as it provides the tools needed to live well in all aspects of life.

Megan Krober Founder & Principal , Ambleside School ofWillametteValley, Oregon

Images from Ambleside School of Ocala , Florida.

Seeds of Growth Ambleside Press Publications

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Formation inLanguage

fter teaching in the middle school classroom for a few years at RiverTree School, I wanted to go back to my first love of foreign language. Having taught foreign language at a public high school for nearly a decade, I was incredibly fortunate to work with and be mentored by some older colleagues whom I would rank as some of the best teachers of foreign language in our state. We saw many trends come and go in foreign language teaching, but I found that the core and crux of the matter is that a foreign language must be acquired actively and not passively.

Mente a Mente Spanish Reader Vol 1 & 2

Kindergarten Handwriting Practice Workbook Bk 1 & 2

First Grade Handwriting Practice Workbook

Kindergarten Handwriting Practice Teacher Edition

The Gouin methodology that the Ambleside schools in the network had been using for a year or two when I started intrigued me greatly, but it became obvious that many teachers and their students were struggling across the network to apply the method effectively in gaining proficiency in Spanish. I thought the best place to start in understanding the method was to read Gouin’s original writing as well as what Charlotte Mason had to say about language instruction. One area of weakness I began to see was that teachers were not treating language instruction like a disciplinary subject, i.e., that the students should be working actively and vigorously with the language in a synergistic manner with the teacher in a fairly fast-paced rhythm. Another weakness was that many were applying the methodology in such a systematic manner that they missed the whole point of what Gouin was trying to do in giving students an opportunity to actively apply the language in complete sentences with physical movement in a context and logical sequence of events. Students were anxiously trying to memorize a series as they would a piece for recitation rather than acting out and telling a story in a second language, gaining confidence by learning through the ear and hearing complete thoughts and sentences before parsing them. (We do in fact isolate the verbs and some other parts of speech in applying the method step by step, but the most important function is to take in the entire series as a whole.)

Once the students relaxed and began to breathe life into the series work, they found they could walk through a series fairly well with little anxiety and start thinking about what they were saying rather than just reproducing sounds by memory.

Most encouraging for me as we began to make progress was to see how students with profound learning challenges were still able to latch onto the instruction and speak Spanish boldly. How exciting to hear a student who struggles so greatly to read in English and has other struggles speak Spanish with beautiful pronunciation that he has learned primarily by ear! How contrary to the commonly held attitude that foreign language instruction should be reserved only for those we’ve labeled as gifted.

I’ve found great satisfaction in these past years in seeing the benefits of François Gouin’s methodology with students: It reaches students of varying abilities effectively and gets all of them engaged. It is easy for most new students to jump in with little or no remediation. It is incredibly efficient in its use of time. It is highly enjoyable for the students to learn. It really trains the ear and tongue in the language well.

The best way I might summarize how brilliant the method is for introducing students to the language, would be to quote Monsieur Gouin himself: “One of the French Ministers said some time back, speaking of the teaching of languages, that what was necessary was to seek some means, not of making the whole class of children sit still on the school-benches, but, on the other hand, of putting them to work, and of utilizing the unconquerable need of movement of childhood upon the side of instruction; that the means should be found not of imposing silence upon a class, but rather of requiring them all to speak!”

Ourselves, Charlotte Mason in American English

Brain Brostrom, Spanish Teacher RiverTree School, Crystal, MN.

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Ambleside Rocked MyWorld

hen we enrolled our two children at Ambleside of the Willamette Valley, I had no idea that I would soon become an Ambleside evangelist, trumpeting the virtues of Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy.

Like many parents, we were looking for an alternative to public schools. The classical Christian school model was appealing, but we felt like it was too focused on rote memorization and rules. We wanted our children to love learning and we wanted the school to love our children.

It was only much later that I realized that we were, as Bill St. Cyr said, “Dropping our children off to our ‘tribe;’ these are the people you choose to shape your children,” he said.

“These are the people who dramatically impact you, your children, and your family’s future.”

Bill said that the atmosphere created at the school is something you just can’t underestimate. It’s the culmination of written and unwritten messages. It’s the habits that are or are not developed. It’s the clarity or the confusion that is created for young souls in need of guidance. And it will greatly impact your child positively or negatively. School as “tribe”? This was a new concept to me.

But Bill was exactly right. This was our tribe. These school children were our children’s brothers and sisters. Our teachers and founders were my wife’s and my brothers and sisters. This has been a truly life-giving, living education, and our children have flourished in ways we couldn’t have imagined.

However, what really rocked my world was something Bill said one evening at a lecture for our parents early in the school year. At Ambleside, everyone-from the principal to the students-is on the same journey, the journey to sainthood. As a vice president who has worked in Christian higher education for over twenty years, this really made me think. Is this something we are cognizant of with our students at the college?

This idea was further solidified for me during our first parent-teacher meeting. My son’s teacher was sharing with my wife and me how she was helping our seven-year-old son learn the habit of controlling one’s body. “Learning” the habit, not forcing him to be still and punishing him if he didn’t. But as she was explaining this to us, she told us how she was also thinking about how her presence was impacting her students. She said she was asking herself, “Is my presence helping them to learn or hindering their learning?”

Wow, I was blown away. The humility, care, and love this teacher had shown her students made me question how my own presence was impacting my family, my friends, and my employees. And it inspired me to want to be a better person.

And that’s what Ambleside does.

It develops people into their best selves.

It develops people who have a love of learning. And it helps people develop habits that will serve them well for a lifetime whether they are students, teachers, principals, or parents.

RobWestervelt Parent, Ambleside School of theWillametteValley Chief Strategy Officer, George Fox University Executive Director, Future State Project

High School Student Art Ambleside School of Fredericksburg

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hen I retired from the Air Force Reserve in January 2017, I really believed I would have more time to devote to my family and my video production company, Kimball Productions. My intention was, of course, to hang up my uniform and fondly look back on my 22+ years of service, while sitting around the fire-pit telling war stories to my grandchildren. But alas, the Good Lord had other plans for this old chief master sergeant.

Because of my service as a public affairs chief master sergeant, the Air Force Reserve Command thought it would be a good idea to bring me back as a civilian teacher to help Air Force Reserve PA photojournalists learn everything they needed to know about video production in a week.

I had witnessed a method producing profound changes in everyone exposed to it.

I was Chief. Of course, I could do that. So I made feverish plans to teach the way I had been taught throughout my life: badly. You know, polling ignorance; memorizing bits; cramming tons of information in as short a time as possible.

In other words, death by PowerPoint.

Of course, that’s what I would have done had it not been for the educational Ambleside Boerne Grandparents Day experts I knew: my Ambleside-trained grandchildren. They, of course, were wise enough to refer me to their mother, Ambleside master-teacher-in-training, Heidi.

To be clear, I have attended and observed many Ambleside classes during the last four years. I have been blessed to direct Ambleside students during the Shakespeare program the last three years. And finally, we have filmed a number of sessions with Dr. Bill St. Cyr as well as many of the ASI Summer Institute classes.

But it was under Heidi’s kind and patient guidance that I learned to unlearn the bad technique and apply Charlotte Mason’s divinelyinspired method. A method I had witnessed producing profound changes in everyone exposed to it: my wife and me; my children; my grandchildren; the students and the teachers at Ambleside Colorado; the parents and grandparents; everyone.

I wanted the same for my Airmen. I wanted to hear my students telling back, learning and doing for the sake of the learning and doing.

I wanted to see them transformed and rewarded by the knowledge for the knowledge’s sake.

When we decided to employ Mason’s methodology, we knew from experience, that students—even military students—taught this way can learn anything. I knew that they could—in a matter of days, certainly, and sometimes hours or even minutes—become energized with an immeasurable joy of learning.

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hile we were teaching, there were two primary techniques we found most effective: 1) We told them what we wanted them to learn, then asked them to tell that back throughout the week driving home key messages; and 2) We played examples of great film-making and asked them to tell us what they noticed about a particular aspect of the film-making: lighting, cinematography, sound, narration, etc. Not surprisingly, they knew more than they thought they did. They began teaching themselves, in the way of asking thoughtful, provocative questions really made learning a joy for themselves.

We knew that they weren’t going to be just learning how to push buttons to shoot and edit videos, but rather they would be uniquely equipped to approach the work of telling stories with video equipment with a renewed passion and utter clarity that would last them a lifetime… eager to learn more and work in a most excellent manner.

And that is exactly what happened. Feedback from the four sessions we’ve taught in the spirit of Mason’s method was best expressed by seeing them excited to produce stories and perform the work with confidence and sheer joy.

I’m not guessing here…I’m certain if you ask any of them, they’d tell you that they returned to their units imminently ready, joyfully willing, and more than able to do the work because the learning stuck.

And for that.“We all salute you, Charlotte.”

Tom Kimball* Grandparent, Ambleside School of Colorado *Tom Kimball is a retired Air Force chief master sergeant. The “Chief ” served for more than 22 years in the public affairs career field as a writer, photojournalist, broadcast journalist, and finally as the chief enlisted manager for Air Force Space Command. In his civilian career, he is founder and co-owner of Kimball Productions with his son, Ben. Tom’s daughter-in-law, Heidi, is a third-grade teacher at Ambleside Colorado where his grandchildren attend. Tom is a professional actor, director and producer. His first book “That’s How I Remember It!” is available online at Barnes & Noble.

Flourish, Ambleside Schools International’s podcast, supports a renewal in education based on the philosophy of Charlotte Mason, who was an advocate of “certain natural laws”—better named Divine laws—that, when grasped, shape persons to be their best in body, mind, moral nature, and spiritual life. Join Bill and Maryellen St. Cyr for these and many more topics on AmblesideFlourish.com.

Flourish Podcast can be found on;

www.amblesideflourish.com

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Learning Together

wo years ago, our son and daughter were attending classes at our local elementary school. I volunteered at the school and knew many of the students and teachers. They were working hard, challenged by the vast needs and requirements dictated by our current education system. My husband and I both attended public schools K-12, and my parents were public school teachers. It had never crossed my mind to seriously consider making changes until my son began recounting situations in his classroom, which gave us great pause. My son told me, “Mom, the adults aren’t in charge. It’s like a war-zone.” Behavior challenges overwhelmed the learning opportunities. It would take months to read through a simple book. The curriculum was limited by state testing requirements, and the enjoyment of learning was dying because of the chaotic environment.

During this time a friend began to share about the writings of a woman named Charlotte Mason, who presented an entirely different approach to learning. My professional background is in social work and college student development—certainly not teaching middle school and elementary school students! The more we explored ASI, the more convinced we became that we needed to make a complete shift in our lives to embrace this life-giving approach to education. Our children needed a different environment and we saw the possibility of helping them love to learn rather than learn to perform.

Ambleside Schools International (ASI) showed us that there were families living out these truths presented by Ms. Mason, creating a totally different experience of growth and learning for their children.

Our decision came very late in the summer—we didn’t prepare for months and months. I resigned from my job and three weeks later we literally jumped right in! This was possible because of the excellent curriculum prepared and curated for homeschool families as well as the excellent guidance from our mentor-teacher, Shannon Seiberlich, who is the Director of the Ambleside Home School program.

Transitions present challenges but we were graciously supported by Shannon through every question and concern. This method was brand-new to all of us, and we had a significant period of adjustment. Shannon and I had (and continue to have!) conversations about my children and how to best help them learn and grow. Every week we email and talk to refine and help me understand how to best practice Ms. Mason’s methods as well as consider the growth of my children as people—how their character can be cultivated, strong habits developed, and souls tended to.

We started on this journey of home education with ASI because we wanted a different experience for our children. I did not realize that our family needed this lifestyle change as well. We needed to slow down and to explore new ways to engage with one another and our environment. With ASI’s support and guidance, I jokingly tell Shannon that we are both in school and in counseling. For myself, I find great inspiration in Ms. Mason’s writing, the leadership of Bill and Maryellen St. Cyr, and Shannon.

I find practical help in parenting and educating through different challenges. Before we started with ASI, I would have told you our family was fine—we cared for one another well and were intentional about pursuing Jesus and guiding our children. While this new journey has been hard, it has also brought freedom for me as a parent as well as follower of Jesus. It has made me aware of what we were missing before.

We notice together. We spend time thinking about life-giving ideas. We have conversations that impact our character and maturity. The observations that my children make when reading a story or Scripture, stop me in my tracks. Our children are capable of so much Meredith Dougherty Ambleside Home School if we give them the “nourishing food” for the heart, mind, and soul.

Ambleside Homeschoolers

MasterTeacher Training “There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come.”

Sometimes attributed to the French Romantic, Victor Hugo, the aforementioned declaration is in reality an abridged amalgam of the thoughts of Hugo and an obscure contemporary, Gustave Aimard. I stumbled across it on the internet in pursuit of a particular passage, which I had read somewhere recently in Charlotte Mason’s Philosophy of Education. In it, the portion to which I allude states that “men’s thoughts are more potent than they know,” a fact with which I would be forced into confrontation, when I first encountered her teachings in 2010.

It was following a brief sabbatical, and a time of disillusionment with my own experience in the classroom, that I found myself searching for a different educational paradigm. A chance meeting with some respected friends and colleagues kindled a desire within me to learn more about the resurgent “classical” school movement within the United States, wherein I hoped to find answers to quiet the doubts which had grown within me. Unbeknownst to me at the time, my answers were to lie in a different quarter. The school at which I sought employment was attempting to employ the methods of a Victorian educator of whom I had never heard. I would like to say that I recognized the revolutionary ideas of said educator immediately, but such was not the case. In fact, I didn’t initially give much consideration to the thoughts of this antiquated, little-known educator of the late 19th century - I had already written her off as inconsequential and supplementary to the real business of an education founded in the ideals of “classicism.”

And yet, in spite of my best efforts to be dismissive, there was a deep potency to the ideas that I encountered there.

They were for me, in fact,“idea[s] whose time had come.”

In the years that followed, I became more familiar with Mason’s philosophy and methodology through the faithful teaching and mentoring of Bill and Maryellen St. Cyr. As I ingested Mason’s ideas, their potency became more apparent throughout the process of digestion, a process which continues to this day.

Today, I continue to be challenged through Mason’s ideas as presented in the context of ASI’s Master Teacher Training Program. I am tremendously grateful for this opportunity, and for the gift of an Ambleside education which I am receiving now. A parent wrote to me recently, thanking me for implementing this education and this curriculum, and for the results she is seeing in her child’s life.

My response to her is a summation of the reasons for which I have not only landed here but have remained:-Thank you for sharing this. I didn’t initially come to the field of education because of Charlotte Mason, but Ambleside’s commitment to seeing her approach manifested in the classroom is what has kept me in education these many years. It’s a privilege to read good books with my students, to encounter the potency of the ideas therein, to bear witness to the ideas finding purpose in the minds of the children (I believe this to be the Holy Spirit at work!), and finally, to see the resulting fruit borne out in their lives.

USA MTTP participants

It is a privilege to see the effect of this education in my students’ lives. But the fact is that this education, founded upon ideas more potent than even a turn-of-the-century English educator might have recognized at the time, is changing mine. And for that I am daily grateful.

ZacharyWard , Director of Instruction Calvary School of Holland, Holland, MI.

In Charlotte Mason’s day and for years later, the designation CMT (Charlotte Mason Trained) was given to teachers who had completed a three-year course of study at the House of Education, Charlotte Mason’s teacher training college in Ambleside, England. This was considered a mark of distinction, so much so that schools and those in need of a governess sought CMT teachers for the education of their children. These teachers were highly regarded for their practice, which was guided by a comprehensive philosophy of education which could sustain objections, not by opinions but by truth.

For over seventeen years, we (Bill and Maryellen St Cyr) have been training teachers in Charlotte Mason’s philosophy and methods, and we would like to formally pass on our knowledge and insights to teachers like you through Ambleside Schools’ International Master Teacher Training Program. Teachers who have completed the three-year program would gain certification as an Ambleside Schools International Trained Master Teacher, a person characterized by a high level of mastery in the philosophy and practice of Charlotte Mason, and a familiarity and expertise of an Ambleside education in kindergarten through eighth grades.

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uring my last few years of training in the ASI Master Teacher Training Program, I have not only become a much better educator, I am an improved person. Through Charlotte Mason’s writings and Bill and Maryellen’s tutelage, I have learned more about myself, my relationship with God, and my relationship with others. I have learned much about connecting with God, practicing the presence of God, and the idea of a “relational circuit.” As a result of this training, I cannot help but tell back on my own or with a friend and ponder the living ideas that apprehend me when reading a good book or exploring places like Washington, D.C. and reading Lincoln’s Second Inaugural Address.

The way in which I engage with ideas has greatly impacted my classroom. I will often facilitate discussion in my class relating to ideas that have apprehended me in the reading.

Naturally, these ideas have apprehended them as well, and it is pure joy to hear students discussing such worthy ideas.

I think what makes this philosophy so easy to commit to is that it is the philosophy of Christ.

Over the course of the last week, we have read selections from the Bible of the story of Joseph and his brothers. From the first reading (when Joseph is sold), we discussed the theme or ideas found in the story. After this reading, we discussed two questions, which I told them we would discuss after every reading of a Joseph story: What can we learn of God and his care for Joseph (us)? and what can be learned about faith?

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hroughout our readings, the students had much interaction with the themes that are found in the story of Joseph and were aware that they were discussing the major themes of the story. They would continue to go back to the idea that this story represents the combination of these two ideas and that they are connected to one another: The more Joseph realizes God’s care, the more he trusts God and grows in his faith in Him. Also, the more Joseph puts his faith in God, the more he sees God’s care for him in his life.

At the end of the story, in Genesis 50:20, Joseph says to his brothers, “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”The students had a wonderful discussion about the conclusion of the ideas that were discussed throughout the story of Joseph: God’s care and Joseph’s faith. What worthy thoughts!

I truly believe Charlotte Mason created a model of education that is inherently Christian.

It is not a secular education with a Christian name. She has presented an education that is profoundly Christian, that is right, good, true, and beautiful. Children are born persons.

They have the ability to know. People are fundamentally relational. Education is the science of relationships.The list goes on. It is so easy to commit to because it is everything I believe in and try to practice in my own life.

Ben Sytsma, Assistnat Principal Calvary School of Holland, Holland, MI.

AlumniReflections

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hen I worked as a reading instructor at a local charter school, I was directed to arrange my lesson plans according to the tiers in Bloom’s Taxonomy: to begin by asking one or two questions aimed at gaging student recollection, to direct students to use “inference charts” to “analyze” the text, and finally to gear the bulk of my questions towards the highest level of Bloom’s Taxonomy—creation—”Write your own episode of “The Twilight Zone.” I was strictly warned that I should avoid narration as it was a “low level” task considered beneath the ability of a middle school student.

What my colleagues failed to recognize is that every assent from one tier to another in Bloom’s Taxonomy requires that there be a firm base.

Without real recollection and assimilation of the materials read, there can be no understanding, application, analysis, evaluation, or creation.

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“Before an idea can take flight and begin its work in a child’s heart, the student must do the work of assimilating the whole of the text within their minds.”

Narration is precisely this act of assimilation: by paying close attention to sequence and to author’s language, the child is enabled to lift the whole of the text off the page and to reassemble it within his mind. Once the thought is mentally assembled, the student can begin the work of capturing this new idea in precise spoken and written language. The teacher’s role in this process is to set a high standard: to create a routine where students know they will be expected to attend closely to the text. The burden of retelling does not lay entirely on the first student. All are expected to attend not only to the text, but to the narrations of their classmates.

The goal for the class as a whole should be to achieve a complete retelling of the text read. From there, students are primed for Charlotte Mason’s “Second Little Talk” and can comfortably refer back to the text as they allow their minds to soar with ideas.

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hen I returned home from the ASI Summer Institute this year, I was excitedly discussing how narration can train the habit of attention -- how even as adults we can retrain the myelin passageways in our brains by consistently adopting this habit as part of our daily reading practice. My friends were incredulous.

They struggled to believe that students could recollect pages worth of material accurately when they couldn’t even imagine being able to accurately recollect a single paragraph. Narration and the habit of attention can indeed seem daunting when our culture screams at us to collapse under the urgings of minor distractions. I thought of my time as a student at Ambleside School of Fredericksburg in 7th grade, I was writing four to five-page narrations.When I began in the 5th grade, I struggled to write even a single paragraph. My ability grew as my teachers created a space in which I could practice the habit. Each day, I recollected a little more. Each written narration grew by a sentence or two, then several sentences, then into entire pages.

By the time I entered high school, I was a fluent writer who could easily produce longer essays, but this was because

“I had the language of the great authors already assimilated in my mind from years of work training in the habit of narration.”

Monica Dickson Fifth Grade Teacher, Ambleside School of Fredericksburg

celebratingAlumni Ambleside School in McLean,Virginia R

ecently, I began a new position as Creative Director for The Carl Schmitt Foundation (https://carlschmitt.org/) in Wilton, Connecticut. I have the honor of living and painting in Carl Schmitt’s historic home and studio. In addition to furthering the mission of the Carl Schmitt Foundation, I have the opportunity to develop my own work and to take commissions. It’s been an absolute privilege to conduct research into the painting methods, thought, and theories of Schmitt. It is a surreal experience to paint in the beautiful north light studio Schmitt built and to read his handwritten notebooks and correspondences. This Fall we are organizing a number of events, including a Symposium of leading Catholic artists, an exhibit at the Arts Club of Washington, and a concert in D.C. Carl Schmitt has had a profound effect on both my art and my outlook. His example has often caused me to step back and re-evaluate how I live my life and to ask the question, “What if... just what if I decided to divorce my aims from that of society and truly attempt to live a Beautiful Life?” This is a vision I am hoping to share with others through the Foundation.

Andrew de Sa attended Ambleside School in McLean,Virginia.

The historic Guild of Boston Artists selected Andrew’s painting,“Mandarins,” for “The Ingrebretson Studio:The Boston School World of Light and Color” exhibit that ran through November. Prior to that, Andrew spent eight days at the National Gallery of Art as a guest painter, where he painted the work "Still LifeWith Game” by French master, Chardin, through the NGA Copyist Program.

inSouthern Africa

I

fromMom, toTeacher and Trainer

currently work for Ambleside School of Hout Bay in Cape Town, South Africa to ensure both the Charlotte Mason philosophy and Ambleside methodology are upheld in our local context. With the need for good education growing in our country, news of Ambleside Schools has drawn and captured many people over the past few years, creating the need for Ambleside Schools International of Southern Africa (ASISA) to be formed. There are now five relating schools in S.A, with another one potentially opening in 2019. So, in the coming new school year, which begins in January for us in South Africa, I will begin working full time for ASISA to assist the greater Ambleside Community in South Africa.

Being part of an Ambleside Community has been life-changing for me. Ambleside Schools International (ASI) is not merely a franchise. It is truly a community of Christ-centered individuals all coming together to grow in Christ and sharpen their skills to be able to direct and assist our students both in character and in intellect. I have personally been mentored, inspired, challenged, and held accountable by this community on a level that supersedes any other influences in my life, and I am eternally grateful to God for placing me where he has. Dr. Bill St. Cyr’s teachings around psychology and understanding the human nature have enabled me to not only understand myself, but relate with persons in a way that is life-giving and redemptive.

The more I study the works of Charlotte Mason, the more I see God at work through her, as the truths she explores are timeless and biblical. Her methods take into consideration the very nature of a child and how God has designed us to have relations with all that is around us. I have seen many students delight in knowledge, blossom under the gentle yet firm God-given authority of a teacher, and grow in the habits needed for them to succeed in life.

I clearly remember sitting in my garden reading one of Charlotte Mason’s educational volumes when I was pregnant with my first child in 1996.

Once I got through the old-English barrier, I became so excited about what I was reading that I knew I needed to share my discovery with others and promptly started a study group. Her ideas have enriched all areas of my life, raising five children and cultivating a growth atmosphere at home became second nature as I worked on the habits I was learning. I have grown from being blown by my emotions and lethargic of mind to someone who delights in learning and understands more fully how to remain my best self no matter what the circumstances. It is now one of my greatest desires to see others discover these truths for themselves.

I am 100% committed to the good work (God’s work) of assisting Ambleside Schools. Each school community is a place where not only the students, but the teachers, parents, and extended families are encouraged to discover a truly biblical way of living and relating to all that is around them and find the support and inspiration that we all need to live life well.

Natalie Thomson, Director of Training Ambleside Schools of Southern Africa.

Student Art Ambleside School of Hout Bay, South Africa

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mbleside Schools International exists to serve and equip a global community of students and parents, teachers and schools; seeking to provide what British educator Charlotte Mason (1842-1923) called a “living education.” A living education empowers students to author lives that are full and free, rich in relationship to God, self, others, ideas, work, and creation.

It puts a primacy on formation and not mere information, providing the tools needed to live well in all aspects of life, spiritual and intellectual, personal and professional, present and future.

all

Over theWorld

Colorado

Ambleside School of Colorado, Centennial Skylark School, Glenwood Springs Rocky Mountain Christian Academy, Niwot

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Ambleside School of Ocala

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Leslie Voorhees,

Director of Member Schools

Ambleside School of Marion

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Calvary Schools of Holland

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RiverTree School, Crystal

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Ambleside School of the Willamette Valley, Newberg

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Ambleside School of Fredericksburg Ambleside School of San Angelo Ambleside School of Boerne Ambleside School of Rio Grande

Shannon Seiberlich,

Director Homeschool

Virginia

Ambleside School McLean

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Austria Dr. Bill St. Cyr Executive Director

Ambleside School of Linz, Linz

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Ambleside School of Calcutta

Candice A. Marschke,

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Robin Peak,

Nigeria

Leesa Waliszewski,

South Africa

Natalie Thompson,

Colegio Crista, Mozambique Bethel Academy, Ogun State

Maryellen St. Cyr, M.Ed. Founder, Director of Training and Curriculum

Ambleside School of Hout Bay The Vine School, Lansdowne The Daniel Academy, Gordon’s Bay Ambleside School of Kensington, Johannesburg Three Peaks Primary School, Cape Town

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