C-Mason Announcements

For the Fall and Winter of 2002-2003 the moderators of the CMason Study Loop have decided to do something very different. For the present we have not chosen a book study. Insted, we have decided to do a study on the basic TOOLS of a CM education. We have selected series of these, in no particular order. We intend to discuss not only what each IS, but how to use it in a CM education, particularly if the same tool is used in some other way in some other type of education. We hope to include stories of our own lives- and have you tell us about yours!

This list is by no means all-inclusive, nor is it finished. If you think of something we have missed, let us know!

Also, we want everyone to participate! Please send in your own essays on these topics, or ask questions, or simply join the discussions!

We will be using the Original Home Education Series as our text. You may find it online at : http://www.freeyellow.com/members7/baty/page1.htm .

Here is the schedule, including a partial list of which writers will be guiding and discussing each week. Volunteers are still needed - please be brave - we LOVE volunteers!

We no longer have "Swap Weeks" on CMason list, suggesting instead that members interested in seeking or selling books join the CMcurricula list. They were a LOT of fun, but our group became too large. To remember how it was, you might enjoy the essay below.

From: "Rebecca Farrer"

Well, my first Swap Week is over, and I must tell you I'm a changed person. My body has been reshaped to fit perfectly the molded contour of my computer chair....even while walking. The children follow me around in this stooping position, bending down to peer in to my eyes saying worriedly, "Mom?! Do you need someone to massage your back into an upright position?.........Mom?!" I look somewhat like Groucho Marx, and it's scaring them.

My fingers will twitch, spasmodically typing out the words "Still Available??" while my index finger flexes wildly, trying to find the mouse button. I awake in the night in a cold sweat mumbling, "Send! Send!". My eyes have "Eye-Crosserosis" as did Hank the Cowdog's. They blur unpredictably, causing me to walk into bookshelves straight on. Evidently they now cannot focus on anything larger than a computer monitor.

How to describe the experience of Swap Week? Well, it's like the Superbowl of World Series Marathon, if you know what I mean. At one point, I made a touchdown and held up my arms in the traditional touchdown victory position, yelling, "Yesssss! I got 'A Case of Red Herrings'!!!!" "Do you need them?!" asked my husband weakly. I'm sure he was envisioning a Once-A-Month cooking spree featuring fish.

My hearing has been affected as well. My husband, upon reading this last paragraph, informs me that his actual words were, "Can you EAT them?". In a way, we will be eating them, as we now have no money left for groceries. I'll just have to remind my family of that quote, "Some books are to be tasted; others swallowed; and some few to be chewed and digested." ~~Bacon. Interesting last name, that, (Bacon) considering his quote.

Yes, next week, I'm really going to have to make an effort to cook. I was going to say "cook nutritious meals", but at this point, my family would be gratified just to see me in the kitchen punching in numbers on the microwave for something more than a cup of coffee.

This was a week for child training, too. My children are now trained to exit whatever computer program they're on when I step into the room. I don't even have to say anything. They just say, "Oh, okay.", hit the X button, stand up and go do something else, turning over control of the computer to me. I'm not sure if this is what Charlotte had in mind, or if it's more like Pavlov's dogs.

And speaking of dogs, my little dachshund, Casper, who can never leave my side for a minute, has given up on me ever going to bed at a decent hour. He now knows to just drag the sleeping bag into the office and curl up in it. He was really grouchy the first couple of days because he had to sleep on the hard floor by the computer instead of the bed. Even now, he's inside the sleeping bag, resignedly putting in his computer time.

Now, I must sign off, for I must address a few envelopes, pack a few boxes, put the books that are on the floor back on the bookshelves, dust the bookshelves while I'm at it, cook lunch, put away the sleeping bag, check to see how much the kids have grown since last I saw them and somehow fight the urge to check e-mail. It all sounds insufferably tedious. We will, however, pause sometime today "in memory of mom's sanity" as someone on this list said.

There is one thing I am looking forward to.....actually reading some books! It's an addiction. What can I say?

Thanks for the fun, you kindred-spirits, you.
~Rebecca in IN.

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