Folksong for March, 2018

 Camptown Races
Wade in the Water

I'm going to share two traditional songs to try this month, mainly because as I was working on sharing the one we have scheduled, late at night in the dark of my room, using headphones so as not to disturb my husband next to me, I caught an ear-worm and kept finding myself playing different versions of a very different song and I had to exorcise, er, share it.

Because I know many of our members enjoy hearing some of the little behind the scenes, how things happen details, I want to explain why I was up doing the folksong and hymn for March at 2 a.m.  Besides the fact that I tend to procrastinate a bit- not on purpose, but because I just genuinely don't really experience time passing and so every month the end of the month astonishes me.  I was doing this late at night because my husband and I are sharing a power cord at the moment.  There was a power surge (apparently, according to people who know these things), and my laptop plug made a loud wailing, hissing noise and then there was a noise between a pop and a boom, and the extension cord, which was on the bed, turned black and smelled horrible and scorched my sheets, and my poor power cord- one of the metal prongs actually melted a bit. It all smelled very bad, too.  Happily, my husband and I share the same brand of laptop, so I use his power cord in the evening and at night, so he can take his laptop touse at work in the morning.
Teamwork.

We do plan on getting me a replacement, but we live in the Philippines, so it's not quite that simple.  We may have a lead on one, however, and as soon as we have the time we'll take a cab over to the store that tells us they have one, and we'll see if that is indeed the case (so often, it isn't).

Also, because we live in the Philippines in a recently developed neighborhood, our internet is sometimes unreliable, and we have a finite limit.  It's the end of Febrary, so we're near the end of our monthly allotment, which means I cannot play and replay the youtube videos as often as I would like in order to get it all correct.  I've tried to listen carefully and type fast, but there are typos in the lyrics posted below and I believe a couple of missed or repeated lines, more than I would like.  If anybody else cares to listen and check, leave a comment with your suggested correction and I'll fix the errors you find.

Now about the folksongs.... on the schedule, we have Camptown Races by Stephen Foster (1826-1864). Foster was known as America's songwriter. He essentially created the profession, and struggled to support himself due to weak copyright protections.  If you're interested,you can read more about him and his life and goals for his music here.  However, it's not required. It's fine to just sing the songs.


Here's a version by the 2nd Carolina String Band, Civil War Re-enactors https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ynyKZuUSpM 

Another version

Johnny Cash

The setting is the Camptown Racetrack, and the singer is going to watch as many race as he can and hopes to win some money (in some versions he *has*) through betting on the horses- specifically, the 'bob-tailed nag.' 

Lyrics, though there are some variations between performers:


The Camptown ladies sing this song
Doo-dah! Doo-dah!
The Camptown racetrack's five miles long
Oh! doo-dah day!

Goin' to run all night
Goin' to run all day
I bet my money on a bob-tailed nag
Somebody bet on the bay

I come down there with my hat caved in
Doo-dah! doo-dah!
I go back home with a pocket full of tin
Oh! doo-dah day!

Goin' to run all night
Goin' to run all day
I bet my money on a bob-tailed nag
Somebody bet on the bay

The long tail filly and the big black hoss
Doo-dah! Doo-dah!
They fly the track and they both cut across
Oh! doo-dah day!

Goin' to run all night
Goin' to run all day
I bet my money on a bob-tailed nag
Somebody bet on the bay

The blind hoss sticken in a big mud hole
Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Can't touch bottom with a ten foot pole
Oh! doo-dah day!

Goin' to run all night
Goin' to run all day
I bet my money on a bob-tailed nag
Somebody bet on the bay

Old muley cow come on to the track
Doo-dah! Doo-dah!
The bob-tail fling her over his back
Oh! doo-dah day!

Goin' to run all night
Goin' to run all day
I bet my money on a bob-tailed nag
Somebody bet on the bay

Then fly along like a rail-road car
Doo-dah! doo-dah!
Runnin' a race with a shootin' star
Oh! doo-dah day!

Goin' to run all night
Goin' to run all day
I bet my money on a bob-tailed nag
Somebody bet on the bay

See them flyin' on a ten mile heat
Doo-dah! Doo-dah!
Round the race track, then repeat
Oh! doo-dah day!

Goin' to run all night
Goin' to run all day
I bet my money on a bob-tailed nag
Somebody bet on the bay

I win my money on the bob-tail nag
Doo-dah! doo-dah!
I keep my money in an old tow-bag
Oh! doo-dah day!

Goin' to run all night
Goin' to run all day
I bet my money on a bob-tailed nag
Somebody bet on the bay
Lyrics taken from this page

Johnny Cash sings 'bound to run all night...'   In an attempt to duplicate the southern black dialect, Foster originally wrote 'going to' as 'gwine to' which is an approximation of 'goin', though not a particularly happy or successful one, IMO.

If you are old enough to remember Foghorn Leghorn cartoons, you know he hummed this song all the time.  Here's a compilation of many of those moments.

Bob-tailed is a horse with its tail cut short. Nag is a synonym for horse. Originallyit referred to a smaller horse for riding.Eventually it came to mean any older, run-down horse. Perhaps our singer doesn't have enough money to bet on a better horse?  A bay is a reddish brown horse with black main, lower legs, and ear edges. It's a very common colouring.
The singer goes to the races with his hat caved in-  symbol of povety, and returns with a pocket full of tin, or money.

It's a fun, humorous song with a catchy refrain and tune, not meant to be taken seriously.  It's easy to catch on to the chorus and sing along pretty quickly. It's a good song for expressing exhuberant feelings and happiness over some unexpected turn of good luck.  It's not social commentary.

Foster's ideas and practices evolved and grew over time, but one thing that never changed is that he asked his performers not to mock slavery or slaves, and he never allowed crude characatures on his published sheet music. His attempts to accurately depict a southern black dialect never were very successful and he eventually dropped them altogether.  Keep in mind that in the days before radio or television, the accented speech divisions between the south and north were even stronger than they are now- one of the most common complaints among soldiers in WW1 is that the northerners and southerners couldn't even understand each other.  Foster was from Pennsylvania, not the south.  For more information, see this page.


Somehow in the domino effect that happens when chasing down information on the internet I ended up clicking a link to Wade in the Water, a favourite of mine since childhood days.

There are a lot of variations to this one, both to the lyrics and the tune, although the basic heart of the song is always:
Wade in the water.
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water.
God's gonna trouble the water.

According to Wikipedia, ""Wade in the Water" (Roud 5439) is the name of a Negro spiritual first published in New Jubilee Songs as Sung by the Fisk Jubilee Singers (1901) by John Wesley Work II and his brother, Frederick J. Work (see Fisk Jubilee Singers). It is associated with the songs of the Underground Railroad."

(The Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African-American a cappella ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University. The first group was organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for college. Their early repertoire consisted mostly of traditional spirituals, but included some Stephen Foster songs. The original group toured along the Underground Railroad path in the United States, as well as performing in England and Europe. Later 19th-century groups also toured in Europe.)

Listen and Learn:

Wade in the Water by the Jeeemeys, the alter-ego of musician and teacher Jimmy Rossi
https://youtu.be/HeLur5K_Hwo

Mr. Rossi put the lyrics in his video so it's easy to follow along. This version is also fairly simple and easy to follow as it lacks the wonderful improvisation that often accompanies Wade in the Water.

Wade in the Water by Ella Fitzgerald and the Goodwill Spiritual Choire

https://youtu.be/vg_8L96E3eU (Wade in the water) (Wade in the water) Wade in the water Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water, God is gonna trouble these waters See that band all dressed in white God is gonna trouble these waters It look like a band of the Israelite God is gonna trouble these waters

Wade in the water Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water, God is gonna trouble these waters

See that band all dressed in red God is gonna trouble these waters Look like a band that Moses led God is gonna trouble these waters

Wade in the water Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water, God is gonna trouble these waters
My Lord delivered Danuel, Danuel, Danuel Didn't my Lord deliver Danuel Then why not every man? Now didn't my Lord deliver Danuel, Danuel, Danuel Didn't my Lord deliver Danuel Then why not every man? Man went down to the river Man went down to the river, Lord Man went down to the river Went down there for to pray Man went down to the river Man went down to the river, Lord Man went down to the river To wash his sins all away Washed all day, washed all night Washed till his hands were sore Washed all day, washed all night Till he couldn't wash a-no more (Hey) Man went down to the river Man went down to the river, Lord Man went down to the river Went down there for to pray Man went down to the river Man went down to the river, Lord Man went down to the river Washed his sins all away Wade in the water Wade in the water, children Wade in the water God is gonna trouble these waters Wade in the water Wade in the water, children Wade in the water God is gonna trouble these waters God is gonna trouble these waters God is gonna trouble these waters


 Here's a version by the Blind Boys of Alabama
 Wade in the water
 come on and wade in the water, children
wade in the water
My Lord, my God's gonna trouble the water

 Come on and Wade in the Water
Come on and Wade in the Water , children
Wade in the water
My God's gonna trouble the water

 If you hear tell of me dyin'
 I don't want nobody to cry
All I want you to do for me
and that's to close my eyes.

 Well, Come On and wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water.
My Lord, my God's gonna trouble the water.

 Well in my dying hour
 I don't want nobody to mourn
All I want you to do for me
 and that's to give that (bell at dawn?)

Well,  Come On and wade in the water
Wade in the water, children!
Wade in the water.
 My God's gonna trouble the water.

 When I get in Glory
I'm gonna shake my brother's hand, Oh, yes
I'm gonna tell all about my troubles while traveling through this land.

 Come On and wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water.
My God's gonna trouble the water.

 Come on and wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water.
My Lord, my God's gonna trouble the water.

 Wade in the Water by the Staples Singers:
 Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
He's gonna trouble the water
He's gonna trouble the water

 Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water,
He's gonna trouble the water
He's gonna trouble the water

 See that host all dressed in red?
He's gonna trouble the water.
Must be the host that Moses led.
He's gonna trouble the water.

 You don't believe I've been redeemed
He's gonna trouble the water
Well, follow me down by the Jordan stream
He's gonna trouble the water.

 Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
 He's gonna trouble the water
He's gonna trouble the water

 Wade in the water
Wade in the water, children
Wade in the water
 He's gonna trouble the water
He's gonna trouble the water

 See that host all dressed in white
He's gonna trouble the water.
 It looks like the children of the Israelites
He's gonna trouble the water.
I looked over yonder and what did I see?
 He's gonna trouble the water.
 A band of angels coming for me
He's gonna trouble the water

 Well, why don't you Wade in the water?
Wade in the water, children
 Wade in the water
 He's gonna trouble the water
He's gonna trouble the water




 
St James Missionary Baptist church in Canton, 1978
Turn it up

Oh, I've got my ticket in my right hand
And I'm on my way to the promised land.

You can talk about me just as you please
And the more you talk, I'm gonna bend my knees...

You know you don't believe I've been redeemed
Follow me down to the Jordan Stream

Ohhh, who is that yonder dressed in red?
oooh, just like the children that Moses led.

Who is that yonder dresed in blue?
It look like the ones that made it through (I think, can somebody double check?)




 Topher Keene teaches an audience how to sing it in 3 part harmony, a very good teaching/learning recording for those who want extra help (could be fun with an AO/CM co-op): https://youtu.be/4xeDemvhekc

What does it mean?  Depends on who you ask, and also on who is singing.

Some of the reference are obvious:

For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had., John 5:4

Moses led the Israelites out of slavery.

Under the surface: it's probably a spiritual celebrating freedom and encouraging it as well, literally.   Harriet Tubman was the Moses of her people.  The Ohio River had to be crossed to reach freedom, and often references to the Jordan River were coded references to The Ohio River.  It's giving hints on how to get to freedom- wade in the water to keep the blood hounds off your trail, follow our Moses, cross the Ohio river, make it to the other side.  

When God troubles the water... is that a reference to conditions being right to make a run for freedom?  

The background is meaningful and important- but if you only have time for one thing, make it be singing the song (s)

Sing!

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, Hymn for March, 2018

Lyrics (written by the joyful Isaac Watts): When I survey the wondrous cross On which the Prince of glory died, My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ my God! * All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood. See from His head, His hands, His feet, Sorrow and love flow mingled down! Did e’er such love and sorrow meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown? 

 (This next verse is often omitted) 

His dying crimson, like a robe, Spreads o’er His body on the tree; Then I am dead to all the globe, And all the globe is dead to me. Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were a present far too small; Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. 

 You can listen here to pick up the tune, but please don't stop at listening. The hymns are meant to be sung. It's not as scary as it may seem. Just try to sing along once a day for a week or two, every day, and before you know it, you'll be singing while rocking the baby, peeling the potatoes, on long drives, while washing dishes, and more. This is a precious legacy to give your children. Please don't measure it out with a cramped, stinting hand. Be strong, be bold, banish fear and doubt, and SING! 

https://youtu.be/2ps2DBrJHEk This is a simple congregational singing recording, easy to hear the parts, especially tenor and melody. The dying crimson verse is omitted. I believe this is the easiest one to learn the hymn from. Here: https://youtu.be/Tkx8WAycYAc Fernando Ortega- he sings the first verse alone and acapella. The second verse adds a chorus and some simple background music. The third verse returns to Ortega singing solo, until the final two lines, with more complex background music. The 'dying crimson verse is omitted, there's a musical interlude before the next verse ('were the whole realm...') Here: https://youtu.be/X-LilSiunWA The Breath of Life Quartet- they omit the final verse above, and also the verse about dying crimson. Their voices are powerful and strong, and this rendition is gorgeous. They step up the tune at the second verse and seem to omit the melody and highlight the harmonizing parts. They do take a few liberties with the tune, but not many. *some versions say 'Christ my Lord.'

The Riddle Song, Folksong for February, 2018

Here are the lyrics to the Doc Watson version on this youtube video:
 I gave my love a cherry that has no stone.
I gave my love a chicken that had no bone.
 I gave my love a baby with no cryin',
And told my love a story that had no end.

 How can there be a cherry that has no stone?
How can there be a chicken that has no bone?
 How can there be a baby with no cryin'?
How can you tell a story that has no end?

 A cherry when it's blooming, it has no stone.
And a chicken when it's pippin', there is no bone.
A baby when it's sleeping, there's no cryin'.
And when I say I love you, it has no end.

 Repeat first verse.

 Riddles and riddle songs are probably as old as human-kind. This particular song is over five hundred years old- the oldest version being a manuscript dated 1430, housed in a British museum.

 Although some of the riddles have changed over time, the cherry and the chicken have been there from the oldest version we know of. In some versions, the baby with no crying is a baby in the making. Folk songs are often ribald, but this has not historically been one of them. However, there have been several anachronistic attempts to make this one more earthy than it ever was.

 'Pippin', or pipping, is a chicken still in the egg, but just starting to peck it's way out, the idea that while still in the egg the bones have not yet developed or hardened.

 Some versions include a book that can't be read (it's still in the press), and similar notions, all of which, to me, charmingly communicate the notion that ideas are the seeds from which real things grow.

 This song has often been sung as a lullabye, and versions have been recorded by Burl Ives, Carly Simon, and the Meters (a funk band from New Orleans). It traveled from England to the American Appalachians, and probably back again. It is slower and not as immediately appealing to many children as some of our more lively suggestions, but I hope you don't skip it. Let it grow on you.

 You might consider engaging their interest by first introducing only the first verse. Ask them what they think the answers to the riddles are. Speculate a bit. Have fun with it. Have a bit of time wondering about or guessing the answers, learn the next verse. You could wait a few moments or a few days to introduce the answers in the next verse, just give the children some time to think about and speculate with you over the possible the answers before going on to the second verse.

 To borrow and paraphrase from Canadian storyteller Alice Kane, This song we are singing is five hundred years old. None of us will ever be five hundred years old.

 Here is a possibly related version, performed here by Pete Castle):
 I had four brothers, over the sea, Perry Merry Dixie Domini,
They each sent a present unto me,
 Perry Merry Dixie Domini,
Petrum, partrum, paradisi tempore,
Perry Merry Dixie Domini,

 The first sent a cherry without any stone,
 Perry Merry Dixie Domini,
The second sent a chicken which had no bone,
Perry Merry Dixie Domini,
The third sent a blanket without any thread,
Perry Merry Dixie Domini,
The fourth sent a book which no man had read.

Perry Merry Dixie Domini,
Pitrum, partrum, paradisi tempore,
Perry Merry Dixie Domini

How can there be a cherry without any stone?
Perry Merry Dixie Domini,
How Can there be a chicken without any bone?
Perry Merry Dixie Domini
How can there be a blanket without any thread?
Perry Merry Dixie Domini
How can there be a book no man has read?
Perry Merry Dixie Domini
Pitrum, partrum, paradisi tempore,
Perry Merry Dixie Domini

The cherry when it's blooming, it has no stone,
Perry Merry Dixie Domini,
The chicken when it's in the egg it has no bone
Perry Merry Dixie Domini,
Petrum, partrum, paradisi tempori
Perry merry dixie domini

 The blanket on the sheep's back it has no thread
Perry Merry Dixie Domini,
The book when it's in the press, no man has read
Perry Merry Dixie Domini,
Pitrum, partrum, paradisi tempore,
Perry Merry Dixie Domini.

 There are some slight variations between the above lyrics and the Pete Castle version. Can I say, with much warm and friendly affection and encouragement, please get over that. It realio, trulio doesn't matter. Your lyrics do not need to match up perfectly to the youtube video or other recordings. It's totally unimportant. You need to listen to the recorded version only enough to get the gist of the tune and rhythm. Then turn it of and sing and play for yourselves. Folksongs change over time and through regions, and between singers. Change them up yourselves, if you like. Don't be frustrated and unable to sing because your lyrics say blanket and the song says wool. It's totally irrelevant. Just sing.

Nature Study: Seeing the World in a Grain of Sand (Parents' Review Excerpt)

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

And a Heaven in a Wild Flower

Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand 

And Eternity in an hour

William Blake's Auguries of Innocence

"Let us consider for a moment what unequalled training the child naturalist is getting for any study or calling-the powers of attention and concentration, of discrimination and patient pursuit, and growing parallel with his growth, what will they not fit him for? Besides life is so full of interest for him, that he has no time for the faults of temper which generally have their source in lack of occupation for body or mind.

The sense of Beauty comes from early contact with Nature. "The aesthetic sense of the beautiful," say Dr. Carpenter, "of the sublime, of the harmonious, seems in its more elementary form to connect itself immediately with the perceptions which arise out of the contact of our minds with external Nature"; while he quotes Dr. Morell, who says still more forcibly that "All those who have shewn a remarkable appreciation of form and beauty, date their first impressions from a period lying far behind the existence of definite ideas or verbal instruction." There is no end to the store of common information, got in such a way that it will never be forgotten, with which an intelligent child may furnish himself before he begins his second career.

A child should be made familiar with natural objects, that is the observant child should be put in the way of things worth observation, and the unobservant child encouraged to notice and be on the look out for things. Generally speaking, this is not difficult, because every natural object is a member of a series. Take up any natural object-it does not matter what-and you are studying one of a group, a member of a series; and whatever knowledge you get about it is so much towards the science which includes all of its kind. Break off an elder twig in spring; you notice a ring of wood round a centre of pith, and there at a glance you have a distinguishing character of a great division of the vegetable world. You pick up a pebble. Its edges are round and smooth. It is water-worn and weather-worn and that little pebble brings you face to face with disintegration, the force to which, more than any other, we owe the aspects of the world we call picturesque-glen, ravine, valley and hill. It is not necessary to tell the child anything about dicotyledonous plants or disintegration, only that he should observe the pith within the twig and the rounded edges of the pebble. By and by he will learn the bearing of the facts with which he is already familiar-a very different matter from learning the reason why of facts which hitherto have never come under his notice. The power to classify, discriminate, and distinguish between things that differ is amongst the highest faculties of human intellect, and no opportunity to cultivate it should be allowed to pass. For this reason children should be encouraged to make such rough classifications as they can with their slight knowledge of both plant and animal forms of life. A classification taken from books, that the child does not make out for himself, cultivates no power but that of verbal memory."

Read the rest here.

New Year's Meditation (poem by Charlotte Mason)

Charlotte Mason published the following poem, titled Education, in the volume 4 (1893/4) edition of the Parents' Review.

Several years later she republished it in volume XVI (1905), in the opening pages of the New Year, retitled now as "New Year's Meditation."

I thought it fitting to repost it here for our own New Year's Meditation and personal reflection:

Master, Thou will'st me poor--
Haughty and rich am I;
In self-dependence rich,
Presuming, hard, and high:
Faith, looking on the coming years, doth see
Dark faults, sore failures, let to humble me.
Thy will be done!

A mourner must I be:
And holy messengers
Oft have Thy presence left,
To bring me blessed tears:
Too soon they fail, and sin's hot breath sweeps by:
Then wilt Thou take the spot and show it me,
Till, weeping, fain I turn to hide in Thee:
Thy will be done!

Meek wouldst Thou have Thy child:
How little can I bear!
How seldom wait for Thee,
Quiet, within Thy care!
Though through provokings, teach me to endure,
Bid errors make me of myself less sure:
Thy will be done!

A hung'ring, thirsting one
Must Thy disciple be;
And I so full! grown fat
On Thy gifts, leaving Thee!
But Thou wilt teach me want, or take away
All lesser food till Thou my only stay:
Thy will be done!

Merciful as Thou art:
Oh, how hard judgments rise!
Oh, this censorious tongue,
Evil-discerning eyes!
Yet His sweet mercy will my King impart,
If by no other way, e'en through the smart
Of pity withheld in my extremities:
Thy will be done!

Pure, e'en in Thy pure eyes:
Single and free from guile;
Oh, when shall these vain thoughts
Pure rising, meet Thy smile?
E'en this through Thee is mine: though it should be
That, first, through purging fires, Thou go with me:
Thy will be done!

Ruled by the Prince of Peace:
How far from this my state--
Oft striving for my own,
Exacting, harsh, irate.
No peace is found in me; but Thou wilt come
And make this chafing bosom Thy sweet home:
Thy will be done!

Thus I abide His time;
For hath the King not sworn
That all these shall be mine,
And will not He perform?
If tender ways shall serve, such wilt Thou use;
But smite, if need be; I would not refuse:
Thy will be done!

Why Don't You Write Me a Letter

(Obscure and meaningless cultural reference in title. It's the title of an old Pop song from back in my day)

Handwritten notes and cards are rarer than ever these days, but this is a good time to bring back the charming form of personal connection.  Take some time over the next month to write some thank-you notes with your children.  Thank people for gifts. Thank people for being part of your lives. Thank the mail carrier for delivering mail.  Thank somebody at church for being there.

"you can seldom write one letter too many, but you may easily write one too few, and be sorry for it all the days of your life."


From a Parent's Review article in 1890.

Enough

by Donna-Jean Breckenridge

Picture this:

The table is full.  There’s a computer, there are notebooks and art prints - and stacks and stacks and stacks of books.  

It’s a typical summer scene, one that has been here in my kitchen for years.  Dinner, if I can manage it during these weeks of planning, is spread on a picnic table out back, or on trays on the porch.  When I’m really in the thick of it, I have been known to mutter from behind a wall of history, biography, and free reads, “Fend for yourselves.”  There is organizing, combining, synchronizing, and tweaking the calendar (Do I use the half week of Thanksgiving as a catch-up week?  Do I spread that week over two weeks?  How long do I stop for Christmas? Do I try for summer lessons, or just use that time for anything we miss?).

And when I’m finally done with getting ready for the school year, I find that the beauty that is a Charlotte Mason/AmblesideOnline education looks abundant and very, very full.  

Then a funny thing happens. 

When the books find their way to the designated shelves, when the notebooks and supplies land in desks or in bins, when the calendar is in the laptop or phone or absorbed into a daybook, when the homeschool lessons actually begin - 

Suddenly, everything changes.  What was seen as so much, even a little daunting, morphs into inadequate. There is a temptation, even with a rich feast of a curriculum like AmblesideOnline, to use it as a base from which to do more.  

Just read a poem a day?  Yes, that’s nice - but how about several poems read each day for comparison? What about researching the poem, looking for its literary devices, and defining vocabulary words?  Surely several highlighters are needed, at least, maybe in a few different colors?

Literature?  Great books are good, yes, but what about study guides, or supplemental readings, or, again, those lists of vocabulary words?  

History?  Is this the actual best prescribed rotation for the story of mankind, and shouldn’t some of the tales from long ago and the uglier viewpoints of the past be left out?  And why on earth start with the history of a country other than our own?

Nature study?  OK, but my little yard isn’t all that exciting, and a walk in this neighborhood doesn’t yield much to see - so isn’t it best to add videos of nature, of important and real nature, and focus on stuff happening in rainforests and places far away?

Narration? Just ‘tell it back’? Really? That’s it?  Isn’t there more? Shouldn’t it all be written down, corrected, recopied, and used for a study of the principles of composition?  

Hymns and folk songs - just sing them? Don’t we need musical analysis, the history of each work, and lots of hymn recitation?

And just like that, a path of freedom and beauty turns into drudgery, and becomes instead a path towards burnout and exhaustion. 

This feeling that more is needed is just that  - a feeling.  It bears no resemblance to the truth.  I know this now because, well, I’ve been at this for awhile. I’ve homeschooled this CM/AO way since 1990, and the children whose curriculum plans were on my kitchen table this past summer include two of my three grandchildren - the ten- and seven-year-old daughters of the little girl I began to homeschool all those many years ago.  

I’ve learned a lot of things through homeschooling my four children (three of them graduated, one still in high school) and now through helping to homeschool my grandchildren.  And the main thing I’ve learned is this:

It is enough. 

It is enough to park in the poetic mind of one man or woman for a season, and hear their words read aloud, singly, daily, for the inspiration or challenge they bring.  Before long, a student recognizes the poet’s style, and a phrase or stanza or even the entire poem stay with that student, often for a lifetime. 

It is enough to walk around the same yard, the same street, the same park or field, on a simple walk - and find that your child gets familiar with a single tree, with the sound of a returning bird, with the flow of a stream or brook, with the change of the seasons, with decay and renewal, and with wonder over God’s creation.  And the intense observation that comes from sketching a leaf, a feather, a nut, a web, or an animal track is the foundation and the essence of real science.  

It is enough to read a book - not someone else’s take on it.  Imagine if you were given the choice of whether to stand in the front of the crowd and hear Abraham Lincoln give his second inaugural address, or to read a political commentator’s evaluation of it in a newspaper?  It’s the same with literature. There is simply no substitute for interaction with an author, for getting to know and witness firsthand the strength of the words and the force of the worldview.  

It is enough to narrate - to use this powerful tool, even through the first steps of objections, last-word parroting, and missing facts. Very soon a pattern emerges out of the new habit, due to a strengthening of mind muscle, of attention, and of building associations.  Blank stares are replaced with “this reminds me!” discoveries, and connections with other books, history, life.  And the analyzing, categorizing, connecting - and yes, the composing - is done by the child, not the study guide. 

And it is enough to sing, just sing a hymn, and to learn to sing it even - maybe especially - without accompaniment.  There may be no instruments available for your child when he walks in a hard place or wakes from a nightmare or waits for difficult news, and finds comfort and guidance in singing quietly (or bravely),  “When peace like a river attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll, whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, ‘It is well, it is well, with my soul.’ “

There are some supports used at times in an AO education, of course, such as a study guide for Plutarch, an introduction to a new book, or a more specific essay style-question for a narration. But the general Charlotte Mason principle that “the mind feeds on ideas, and therefore children should have a generous curriculum” does not require for its implementation a paid advisor, an insider’s interpretation of the six volumes, or a heretofore unrevealed new approach to one subject or another.  This method is well-tested, and many of us have lived the harvest of its beauty and simplicity. 

So to the young mom whose table or laptop or library card or Amazon account has been full, and who is daring to go forward but feeling a little bereft and uncertain without charts, unit studies, and workbooks - 

Be reassured. It is enough. 

To the harried homeschool teacher who’s been at this for awhile but life has gotten very tense and now high school looms large, with worry about tests and college and jobs and the future - 

We’ve been there.  It is enough. 

And to the new homeschool mom whose children know facts but don’t care, and who is seeking for them to know Robert Louis Stevenson and Johann Sebastian Bach and William Shakespeare and, above all, the Bible, at least as well as or better than they know the current athletes, musicians, and celebrities - 

Join us, and countless others.  We’ve discovered - it is enough. 

In fact, we’ve learned it’s not just enough. 

It is more than enough.