The Living Page- Nature Notebooks and Scrapbooks

Late again to the discussion but I'm sure that's alright. This time the discussion is over pages 17-25 in The Living Page*. If you came here first and haven't been to Wildflowers & Marbles, I would suggest you go there {now or later; not trying to get rid of you *smile*}. She has some printables that are useful with nature study. Lists that are simple, and pretty too.

We all have a 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

This entire chapter, Gallery of Forms, is a "catalogue, incomplete to be sure, of the various notebooks that appear in Mason's writings. (p. 17)" I especially like the last sentence in the paragraph where Laurie says there is undoubtedly more to come. I very much hope so! 

And so we start with Nature Notebooks. You can see some of my personal nature notebook pages as I've put them on a page of my blog. 

I found it to be quite interesting, but really not terribly surprising, that Mason was in some way responsible for many of Sir Robert Baden-Powell's ideas for the Boy Scouts. Before Mason though was Gilbert White and his use of nature journals. He's quite famous over in England. I think I've seen them on Gutenberg and they are straightforward, much like the example Laurie gives on page 20. So nature journals needn't be extreme or complicated. This is something that perhaps people get caught up on. There are notebooks that people keep that are quite wonderfully done; illustrated beautifully. It doesn't necessarily have to have illustrations. 

The nature notebook is a dated observation of the progression of the seasons week to week, including drawings, prose, and information gathered on a need to know basis. It can include geology, geography, the course of the sun, behavior of clouds, weather signs and many other observations. (p. 21)

The Scrapbooks/Collections is "less about amassing finds than ensuring this personal connection" (p. 24, emphasis mine)" And Laurie quotes a Parents' Review article, "A Few Words About the P.N.E.U." by M. Reppman, of which I put a small portion here:

Every year, in May, during the annual conference, there is an exhibition of the works made by the young members of the club {the history clubs are talked about more in Jen's post}, which consist in collections of dried plants, drawings of flowers, plants and insects, which are often accompanied by personal descriptions, remarks and observations of the young explorer. (quoted on p. 24, emphasis mine)

Here is a page from both of my kids' nature notebooks. They are different but both perfectly acceptable. 

The next discussion is over pages 26-38, a lot more of the notebooks mentioned in Mason's writings. I'm really interested in "The Enquire Within” or Household Book. 

The Living Page- Thoughts

I'm going to start this with the preface that some people are not as inclined toward paper as others. It is just {sadly} the way it is. People can be lead to appreciate it but some will just never love it as others do.

"'To Keep,' had become for Tracy the most important verb in the English language. 

'And it isn't only possessive,' she had defended herself against Bella. 'It means to watch over, take care of, maintain.'"

~Rumer Godden

I'd gotten some composition notebooks at the Dollar Tree and one has been designated for 'notes' on books I'm reading. The Living Page and Charlotte Mason's A Philosophy of Education are the only ones I've gotten to so far. Reading at Wildflowers and Marbles, I was so tempted to buy a pretty, sturdy and expensive {if it's more than a $1, it's expensive} notebook but refrained. There's something about the plain composition books that I like more than the pretty notebooks. Perhaps someday I will get a different super nice one; not right now. 

Reading the Preface, Bestvater says that the commonplace for her is a personal record of her thinking. I wonder if that means she writes down passages in the commonplace as well as her thoughts and notes on the passage. Later in the book, because I am actually at page 106 now, she mentions that the commonplace isn't for personal reflections, as per Mason. I'd have to actually find where she says that...

One of the reasons Mason kept and had her teachers and students keep notebooks was to be more observant. "They nurture the science of relations and the art of mindfulness" (p. xv). It takes more time and a concentrated effort to put something down nicely in a notebook for future reference, for posterity. The focus was not on the book itself, but the process. "Our goal is not beautiful notebooks" (p. 63). But I'm getting ahead of myself, I think.

I really enjoyed reading of others who were/are "Keepers": Linus Pauling, Galileo, Thomas Edison, Alexander Graham Bell, Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Maria Sibylla Merian, Thoreau, Beatrix Potter, Edith Holden, Georgia O'Keefe, William Beebe, Ansel Adams, John Muir, Columbus, Magellan, Livingston, Meriwether Lewis, Perry, Amundsen, Darwin, Da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, John Milton, E. M. Forster, W. H. Auden, Oscar Wilde, Thomas Hardy, Wallace Stevens, George Gissing, Bruce Cockburn, Bach, Beethoven, Richard Foster, Luci Shaw, Ron Klug, and possibly others I missed. 

Keeping notebooks wasn't a notion that Charlotte Mason came to on her own but "Mason was, and could not help to be, a product of her time, often echoing or refining ideas found in Comenius, Pestalozzi, Froebel, Herbart, Ruskin, Matthew Arnold, the men known as "the Scottish school of philosophers" as well as various other intellectuals and sages" (p. 10). There is some debate whether Mason would have embraced the technology that we have today and I think she would have so long as it did not corrupt the philosophy she held of education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life. Bestvater quotes Jennifer New and Sharon Ely Pearson, respectively (p. 11):

"Blog journals are the fastest growing form of journal keeping."

"We are no longer shackled to books and paper. Books may become outdated." 

While the technology is increasing at such an alarming speed, there is just something about paper and books that I don't think will ever become outdated. I believe Mason would have taken what was good about technology and use it to the benefit of the child's education; not merely using all of it because it was there. As Bestvater goes on later to talk about the different 'how-to' books for using journaling as an educational tool today, but they are not the way that Mason would have used them. I agree. 

"One can find various teachers' guides for journaling in the classroom...but even if they avoid the notion that such a journal is to be filled with "self," these are invariably about facilitating creative writing projects, creating authors--one-offs designed for a specific purpose and largely utilitarian" (p. 13).

Towards the end of the chapter, Bestvater talks about Mason's first principle that a child is a person and how keeping notebooks is very important to this. "The teleos or end of education, as she puts it, is to become "students of Divinity." Even children" (p. 13). Prior to this, Bestvater had pointed out many adult Keepers, "who were scholars, the movers and the shakers in science, the arts, and exploration" (p. 10). Ansel Adams said no photographer should be without one; "and many others realize "no student of Divinity" should be without one" (p. 14). She finishes with, "Charlotte Mason, under her usual banner, takes what is set aside for the enlightened and scholarly and offers it to children, "the least of these," saying, in effect, "no child should be without one" (p. 14).

The last few pages of the chapter "The Art of the Keeper" tells of Bestvater's first experiences with notebooking. It was a significant time in her life and, I think, because of the experiences surrounding the notebooking, she took to it so well. Not all of us will have such an experience but I do believe that with the help of notebooking we can come to see better and clearer this world in which we live. 

"Perhaps this is one of the secrets of life--to know 'glory' when we see it." ~Charlotte Mason 

I'd like to continue on with my thoughts of The Living Page, so we'll see how it goes. I highly suggest visiting Wildflowers and Marbles {her blog is beautiful in and of itself} for more on this book.

A Book Discussion...I really shouldn't

I found a link to an online book discussion of The Living Page*. And while I really shouldn't think that I can add another book to my pile, or that I can actually keep up participation in the discussion, I am going to attempt doing just that. Added to the pile and jumping into the discussion. Whether I sink, swim, or get out of the pool is yet to be seen.

My name is Blossom and I have a paper and pen obsession. Obsession. Well, it doesn't consume me as it could so perhaps it is just a fetish or hobby. No. No, it's definitely an obsession. It is more than a passing here-or-there thing {as a hobby could be} but it's not creepy {that's what I think of a fetish- accurate?}.

Since reading Charlotte Mason, I've found that having paper and pen {pen, mind you, I didn't say pencil, lol- that's a whole 'nother obsession!} is accepted and a good thing. I can wag my fingers at my family members who laugh at my obsession. 

The Living Page is about keeping notebooks: how, why, what-for. I am on page 8 {already? only?} and am enjoying the little bit I've read so far. The writing style of Laurie Bestvater is wonderful. I have been a 'follower' of her book of centuries site for a couple years. I need to head over there more often...

I'm looking forward to reading the book, the discussions, and possibly even participating in those discussions. We shall see how it goes!

*This post contains an affiliate link. See Disclosure/Policies. It's just so that when you discover how much you want the book, the link to purchase is "right there"; and I receive a few cents for making it convenient for you. *smile* But no worries, this added feature doesn't cost you anything extra.

Midnight Mutterings: The Living Page & Baptists

Uh oh. Is this an indicator of how my week will go? I certainly hope not! It is after midnight and I am awake with a nice headache. The same headache I went to bed with at 9:00 pm.

It's not been a totally negative experience, however. I have been reading over at the AO forum, and a bit here and there in my new book, The Living Page by Laurie Bestvater. *affliate link* I also got 'caught up' in Towards a Philosophy of Education, Volume 6 of Charlotte Mason's Homeschooling Series. It's been so long since I have read in it but I am going to the CM book study on Tuesday night in Akron, and I needed to have at least read the assigned portions. When I said I got 'caught up' it doesn't mean I can now say I have read all that way through the work. No, I just skipped ahead. I still have over 100 pages to read to really be 'caught up'. But as I was skimming through the pages to get to where we are now, I was tempted more than once to read from random points.

Oh and back to The Living Page. I am only on page 8 and I know I will love this book. I already wrote my name in the front. I often resell books I get so hesitate to write in any.

And since I am awake and I have determined, no matter how half-heartedly, to write more than just one post a week, I figured there's no time like the present. For the remainder of the post, I'll share what I 'learned' in church today. We made it to Sunday School and stayed on through the luncheon.

For Sunday School, Pastor talked about what makes a Baptist a Baptist. Apparently he started this series last week when we weren't there. It sounds like we would have enjoyed it. Anyhow, this week he covered the autonomy of Baptists. Our final authority, actually our only authority, is the Bible; God's Word. There was no single individual in the early church that people went to for the 'laws'. It is the same today with Baptists; they decide together and may even bring in a 'sister church' to help if needed. But the decisions are based on the Bible. Some verses Acts 6:1-4; 13:1-3; 15:5-28 (selected).

Another reason we don't have an individual in charge is because we are a priesthood of believers with Jesus as our High Priest. We have a direct line to God; we do not need to go through saints or a priest. Verses: 1 Peter 2:5; Hebrews 4:14-16.

We have only 2 ordinances that were modeled and commanded by Jesus and instituted in the early church: full immersion baptism and Lord's Supper. Verses: Matthew 3:13-17; 28:19, 20; Acts 2:41; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.

And finally (for today's portion), we believe in free-will and choice. Or as Pastor put it "Individual Soul Liberty". It just means that no matter how much we want to, we cannot make someone do or decide something. We all are responsible for the choice that we make. We have the liberty to make the choice but we also have the rewards or consequences of the choice. Verses: Romans 14 (selected); 2 Corinthians 4:1, 2.

At the start of Sunday School he listed only some of the "Baptists" there are today- some include (he read them too fast for me to write them all down; going by memory- short list!):

Evangelical-Free Baptists

Seventh Day Baptists

Baptist Universalists

Independent Fundamental Baptists

Overall, it was very interesting. I'm looking forward to next week. 

I was going to share what was talked about at the luncheon but I think my headache is gone enough that I can sleep now. And my eyes are drooping *wink*