Homeschooling using the CMEC - Chat with Autumn Kern of The Common Mom

I'm joined by Autumn Kern of The Commonplace Podcast where we talk about our first semesters using the CMEC! We share our favorite books, challenges and what principles are really helping us stretch!
Check out the CMEC: thecmec.org/
Find Autumn at: www.thecommonplacepodcast.com/
Or check out her KZbin: / @thecommonplacehomeschool
‪@thecommonplacehomeschool‬
Books mentioned:
Towards a Philosophy of Education: amzn.to/3DIOzq9
K.Y. Craft Books: amzn.to/3Y5MVXU
Plato's Republic: amzn.to/3YlXO7A
GET YOUR *FREE* NATURE STUDY LESSONS HERE:
Flowers: naturestudyhacking.com/home/w...
Bean Germination: naturestudyhacking.com/beans/
Butterfly: naturestudyhacking.com/2020/0...
NATURE STUDY SUPPLIES I USE WITH MY CHILDREN:
Minimalist Art A4 size Notebooks : amzn.to/2MObpCN
Ticonderoga Pencils: amzn.to/2Wkh9r8
Primsa Color Pencils: amzn.to/2qMOT4F
Helix Angle and Circle Maker: amzn.to/2pQukE2
Field Guides: amzn.to/32Q4Xkj
Nature: Outside your door
ALL HOMESCHOOL SUPPLIES/RESOURCES I USE:
kit.co/joycherrick
OTHER VIDEOS ABOUT HOMESCHOOLING:
Why I switched from AmblesideOnline to the CMEC: • Switching homeschool c...
Family Subjects using the CMEC: • Family Subjects in our...
Homeschool planning with baby in the mix: • Homeschool Planning wi...
Say Hi!
Insta: / joycherrick
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[@desireewhittington9035]

I love this collaboration!! I teared up when you started quoting Psalm 118:24 Joy! My boys and I have started a habit of one of us starting the first half of the verse and then the rest of us echoing the second half in response. It was such a God wink moment for me. Thank you so much for both being so transparent and human. It’s so encouraging and uplifting! I am crossing my fingers for more collaborations from my two favorite KZbinrs!

[@ohaveda]

Two of my favorite homeschool content creators! We have been CMEC members for a year and plan to renew for next year. It has been such a blessing to our homeschool to be a member of the CMEC, especially as a new homeschooler in general this past year.

[@haleighhowland]

Ah love this!!❤

[@Michelleh123321]

We love the CMEC too!!! Such a blessing to our family!

[@Hopelb]

It was fun to listen to y'all chat. Thanks for sharing!

[@chelsiefrazier8513]

This brought me so much happiness! I have opened the CMEC registration page multiple times, and backed out. We are currently doing Ambleside, and we love it! But I am needing more guidance and inspiration, and you ladies have done a great job of having me open the registration page again! 😂

[@jessica_wood]

You all are very good saleswomen for the CMEC! So much so that I joined myself when they opened registration up. We will be starting our first year of formal lessons this fall.

[@joycherrick]

Yay! I’m so excited for your family!!!

[@aleshalipsky1684]

Loved seeing the two of you together and chatting. It was great to talk about some of the daily times. Its always interesting to know how others do their time tables.

[@LizGnagy]

One thing that has helped me make decisions, is I focus more on spending a certain amount of time each week on reading various books and focus less on how many books we are getting done. For instance, my 4th grader has his independent work and recitations and then either reads or gets read to 2-3 times each day (I print him a weekly checklist). We have been reading Storybook of Science this year and won’t finish but will just pick up a different nature lore this fall. Once he finished Summer of the Monkeys, he moved right on to Adam of the Road. We rarely have the stress of needing to finish a book by a certain time.

[@julieowczarek4062]

Enjoyed this conversation so much!! Thank you both

[@kirstenovitt1178]

I really enjoyed this conversation! I’m also a first time homeschool mom with my student in form 1b with the CMEC. I love what Autumn’s friend said about the CMEC not holding your hands but putting everything you need into your hands. So very true! We have been so blessed so far this year by homeschooling in this style with the CMEC. Very excited for the new programs to come out!

[@theanointedfarm5037]

I’m so excited we just registered for our first year!

[@breannerosenau571]

I cannot believe this happened, thank you! I've literally been watching hours of both of your videos these past couple weeks and to see that you did a collaboration video = amazing. I'm on the fence about CMEC and others out there, but this video was excellent!

[@joycherrick]

You are so welcome! We had fun!

[@alohagirl100]

Thank thank you for taking the time to share your homeschool successes and challenges. I am two years into our homeschool journey. Your video has been so inspirational for this mama who is a bit tired as we are coming yo the end of this homeschool year. I had not heard of CMEC until this morning. I will be looking into it. I have been using Ambleside but have been frustrated with finding things on the forum. I’m so excited to explore the CMEC. Just love your discussion of how you are applying Charlotte’s principles! Soooooo impactful for real life application. Thank you so much!

[@joycherrick]

I'm so glad you were encouraged!

[@thecommonplacehomeschool]

Thanks for having me, Joy!

[@joycherrick]

You are so welcome!

[@joycherrick]

Figured out how to mention you properly #technologyproblems 😂

[@mattandapril6225]

Joy will you please do another video speaking more to principle 3 and authority that you have mentioned you are grappling with? Maybe practically speaking, how does this play out in your home? It was really resonating with me and I want to hear more of your thoughts on it!

[@joycherrick]

Absolutely! It’s in the works!!!

[@oliviadesjardine1312]

Thank you so much! This was a great resource. I’m curious, Joy, did you consider the Alveary at all for a curriculum? I’m having a hard time deciding and figuring out the main differences from the CMEC. Would love to know your thoughts!

[@joycherrick]

Hi Olivia! I did look into the Alveary. We actually have a local CM Tutorial that uses the Alveary - so I have walked with several friends who have used it for years. There are a few differences that are important to consider. One is the attitude and orientation I see from the curriculum. When you read through the descriptions do you feel freedom or burden? Does the curriculum equip you in what you are trying to accomplish? I think the thing that is different about the CMEC is that they have figured out how to equip mother-teachers and also get us engaged in learning alongside our children. With both AO and the Alveary there is a sense that the curriculum creators are the "experts." CMEC turns that around and is really working to bring you alongside them in the journey of learning about the CM philosophy and even provides a way for mothers to share what they are learning and doing online. The CMEC materials are very plain compared to the Alveary. The Alveary has sleek marketing and a very lovely website and design. I think they also have great content. Both CMEC and Alveary have overlapping books with AO - AO's list, I believe is the best. But the training and heart to equip mothers to really embody these principles and be able to make decisions for themselves in their home is hands down superior in the CMEC.

[@christy362]

Thanks so much for your thoughtful reply, I found that very helpful! I found it difficult to know how the two differed without actually signing up.

[@liztefft5312]

I enjoyed this enriching conversation. Thank you, ladies. I am curious if the CMEC would be a good fit for me. I'm currently homeschooling my 15 year old son, and we've been using Simply Charlotte Mason resources since a quarter of the way through his eighth grade year. I have the history guide and books purchased for this upcoming 10th grade year. Would it be redundant to join the program if we may not be utilizing all that is offered? *I still feel fairly new to CM methods, but I am learning. 😊

[@joycherrick]

The CMEC program is built ON their history rotation. If you can merge the content of SCM with the time period- then it could work. I will plug CMEC here in that their books, along with AO (bc they have similar selections) are the absolute best. They are more challenging than what i've seen from SCM, but you will need to take your students into account about whether that would be a good idea or not to make the switch. The thing I like best about CMEC is their ability to challenge the mother. There are tons of mom-tools that you could use (like a high school weekly meeting sheet). Their website is challenging to navigate. The content, however, is inspiring!

[@liztefft5312]

@@joycherrick thank you so much for your reply. I'm not sure if it would be the best fit for us, but from what I'm hearing I am impressed by the work they are doing and their support for the family (and Mom). I recently found your KZbin and I appreciate the content you're sharing. God bless you and your family 😊.

[@homeschool.pray.repeat]

Does the CMEC use the same book lists each year, allowing us to reuse books for all of our children as they move up each year like AO? Also, does the CMEC schedule about the same amount of reading in comparison to AO…or less/more?

[@joycherrick]

@homeschool.pray.repeat Many of the books are used for several years and can then be passed down to the next child coming up behind older children. I've enjoyed having everyone in the same time period as well. AO has a 6 year history rotation - meaning everyone goes through a time period twice during their school years. With AO unless you use AO for Groups - each child will go through time periods in the same way - ie all your first graders will study Columbus in first grade CMEC has a 4 year history rotation. With this method, our students will hit different time periods in different grades depending on where our family is in the rotation. So my first grader just did the 1800s this year and will have a different 7th grade experience from my 7th grader last year. Honestly, that's how it goes anyway bc they have different strengths and weaknesses. CMEC reading load is less than AO from a page count perspective. I've found the CMEC to bring in more vibrant life to our home and balance of the "books AND THINGS" that Mason talks about. CMEC has training for using notebooks and engaging with life in more meaningful ways. AO is heavy on reading and I found it to be a burden because it was difficult to sort through which to keep and which to combine. In addition, AO schedules 12 weeks of work and CMEC recommends scheduling 10 weeks per term to allow for one week for catch up and one week for exams. The CMEC method has proven to be more life-giving for us. Both AO and CMEC use similar high quality books. I still pull from the AO book list for supplements etc. They both use the book list ideas from Norms and Nobility as a standard for the Middle and High School years.

[@homeschool.pray.repeat]

@@joycherrick Thank you for this! I do wish I could see generous samples of CMEC. Because the $300 fee is stout, but I like the idea of lighter on the reading, and the 12 week terms with AO has me concerned. Because where do I put exams? lol. I definitely need be able to hand down books, which is one reason I chose AO. But honestly, the fb group is so legalistic it almost comes across self righteous and it’s been a real turn off. Maybe I should consider CMEC. Wait, don’t they make it where their schedules open at a certain time of the year? Seems like I saw that on their webpage once and since we start school in July I felt like waiting on them to be able to prep my year was a problem.

[@joycherrick]

They release the Program for the coming school year every April. They post guides for many of the books, picture study resources to fill out your study, composer study guides, teacher training etc. We have a Form Video Chat each Term - which I think that alone is worth the money. Honestly, the $300 is so worth all of the support! AND, the attitude is one to EQUIP mothers and not the posture of "we are the experts". CMEC has the posture that MOTHERS CAN learn to embody these beautiful ideas and have the ability to implement Mason's principles in their homes. I love that they have helped me raise the bar for my own homeschool and have helped me challenge my children in ways I was floundering with AO. If you think of it as continuing education for mom, then $300 is cheap. Our husbands need to do that for their work and we should find ways to do that for ours. That's what CMEC has done for me anyway. I hope this helps.

[@katiepoitevin4702]

How do each of you deal with children baulking at or hating a book, subject, or method? Using a Charlotte Mason philosophy do you always seek out a way to change things up at that point? I do not mean this in a sarcastic way, but how much do children need to love what they are doing? Especially in the early years and regarding the "brass tacks" of learning - learning to read and write, basic math skills, etc. I love the idea of laying a beautiful feast before my children and giving them living ideas, but there are some things that seem to get tedious and boring long before they are mastered and I end up falling repeatedly into a "I don't care if you don't like it, just do it" attitude. And I do want my children to learn the virtue of working through and finishing something even when they don't like it. Could you shed any light on this from your practical experience? This may be completely answered in CM's books but I am not there yet, I am working my way through "Home Education".

[@joycherrick]

Ah well this is one of those “it depends” questions. My kids often baulk when I present something new. They can be resistant to trying something new. I ask them to give it a try- and almost always once we’ve read a chapter or two of a reluctant book- they are hooked and asking for more! Now what if that doesn’t happen. What if everyone just hates the book. This does happen and it happened in CM schools as well. We must have the freedom in our schools to put a book aside and try the next one. There are too many fabulous books out there on most topics to slog through one that isn’t capturing your family’s imagination. Now- I will say- that I have often fallen into a habit that worked great at first and then grows stale. Or even with something like Math where the everyday aspect of it becomes a slog. In this it is usually my fault for treating the subject and child like a machine. Often we can apply our creativity to find the wonder and interest or even mystery in the subject at hand and then we’ve stumbled onto something marvelous! I new question to answer something unknown that is within our reach! Now, there is the the need for grit and perseverance however- are we offering up ideas that ARE worthy of further discovery? Or are we giving the answer and asking for rote parroting. Math in particular should be filled with puzzles and mysteries to solve. It is such a subject filled with wonder and critical thinking and well Problems that demand we solve them! But that’s not how most math programs are set up. They are set up as rote memory work- not a curiosity to unwrap like a present. (If you’d like to explore a math curriculum that does do this I recommend Beast Academy) And so we go back to the question at hand… what if what we are doing doesn’t captivate the child? 1. See if I’m doing something boring to cause this reaction 2. See if the book really is not serving us 3. See if I am doing the work ahead of time to prepare for the lesson and give little clues about what to look for as I read or a little explanation about what is about to happen 4. Maybe then we can look at what’s going on with the child Be encouraged! You’ve got this!

[@katiepoitevin4702]

@@joycherrick Thank you for this! I may print out this comment and tape it to our math book for the time being! ;) I do struggle with letting myself or my children not finish a book. It's one of those things that I need to "re-wire" my thinking about.