2025 Winter Gathering
Sessions
Plenary Sessions
Plenary I: A Main Course of Heroes
Presented by Dr. Don Rhymer
Charlotte Mason said, “Heroes are not made in a day.” She knew one of the key ingredients to make them were years of feeding the imaginations of children with books. By degrees, feeding the mind and soul of a child with examples of heroes must be central in their regular feast of living ideas. A diet of historical and fictional literary heroes fortify the child with the nutrients to grow heroes in your home.
This session follows the subject of heroes, using both a fictional book, Shane, by Jack Schaefer and a work of non-fiction in The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara, that can help nourish the young reader with nutrients to feed their insatiable imaginations to think outside themselves.
Plenary II: Contentment
Presented by Dawn Rhymer
At times, our school days are anything but calm. We end up with feelings of anger, sorrow, and defeat. We cry out to God and wonder, “Why are we unable to say with Paul, ‘I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content?’”
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I invite you to join me on the journey of learning contentment, an inward assurance regardless of the outward of our circumstances.
I discuss personal trials, share lessons I have learned, and include applications specific to a Charlotte Mason education. We will leave knowing that tomorrow can be different.
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Workshops
Workshop Session I
The Humble Time Table & More
Presented by Dawn Rhymer
[L]et us look in at a home schoolroom managed on sound principles. In the first place, there is a time-table…
(Home Education, p. 142)
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I jumped into the philosophies and methods of Charlotte Mason with a 6th, 4th, and 2nd grader and two in tow. Our days were long and arduous. I remember school days approaching 6p. I remember single terms stretching out over a whole year. As I read through the Volumes, I knew this was not how it was supposed to be. We were not experiencing the Atmosphere, Discipline, and Life a Charlotte Mason education so beautifully seemed to offer. But what were we doing wrong? In this workshop I will begin by sharing how the humble time-table made all the difference. I will then share other tools we have used to organize our school day.
Workshop Session II
Middle School & High School Science
Presented by Dawn Rhymer
"Where science does not teach a child to wonder and admire it has perhaps no educative value." Charlotte Mason, Philosophy of Education, p. 224
Why are we tempted to trust Charlotte Mason with all subjects but science? Is it really possible for our older children to get a solid science education using Charlotte Mason’s methods and philosophies? In this workshop we’ll examine what Charlotte Mason said about science and talk about what science looked like for the upper forms. Then we’ll take a step back and see how this might apply to us today. I’ll share some resources available to help as you guide your older children through science.
Workshop Session I
Charlotte Mason & Dads: What's in it for Me?
Presented by Don Rhymer
The majority of the Charlotte Mason community at large is made up of moms, being the primary educator in the home. Typically at an early stage of a couple’s Charlotte Mason education journey, the dad is likely to ask questions like:
“Is all of this worth it?”
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“Will my kid get into college?”
“Do I really need to build another bookshelf?”
This talk walks through many intangible benefits of a Charlotte Mason education in the home and how a man can become a better husband, a better father, and how family unity can grow in ways that are otherwise hard to capture.
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Workshop Session II
Critical Thinking & Narration
Presented by Don Rhymer
A former Harvard University President once claimed that critical thinking is the “most important purpose of undergraduate education.” Research also suggests its importance to employers and graduate schools as well.
This session will survey various definitions of critical thinking, review a set of proficiencies for the critical thinking outcome at the Air Force Academy, and explore how narration can develop such proficiencies with a CM education, founded upon the mind being “‘thoroughly furnished’ with ideas that, of its own accord, it compares and examines critically.” (Charlotte Mason, Formation of Character)