Thoughts from the LER: Learning for a Lifetime (A Guest Post)

Jeannette Tulis shares her thoughts on the 2017 LER and the audio of her plenary!

I have wanted to attend a Living Education Retreat ever since Nancy Kelly and Karla Taber started the lovely tradition 12 years ago. It usually falls on the same weekend as our big home education expo here in Chattanooga, for which I am one of the organizers, so in many of the past years, it has not been an option for me to consider attending. But this year, providence smiled as it was earlier than in other years, our expo was a bit later in the month than previous years, and I had the impetus of long lost cousins who live in Minneapolis. I lost my dad 4 years ago and since then have wanted to connect with cousins on his side of the family. What a gift to connect with cousins and go to the LER on the same trip.

From the moment I arrived, I was made to feel welcome. Heidi Jahnke gave me an enthusiastic greeting and a lovely card and a package awaited each guest on their cot. No comment on the rustic nature of the cabins which of course is part of the charm, bugs and all, right? The feeling of welcome continued into the dinner time when I saw several familiar faces from other CM gatherings. The first talk by Nancy, the Conversazione, set the tone with the theme of simplicity, a single eye, and humility. It included one of my favorite activities - a picture study - by one of my favorite artists - Botticelli's stunning work Fortitude. 

My cabin mates encouraged me to attend Morning Meditiations at the cross by the lake and may I say it was well worth the early hour with which one's alarm must be set!  Nancy led the Friday a.m. meds with favorite readings from children's books and worthy devotionals. A perfect way to start the day.

Immersions and workshops that day included one on the Vaulted Book about the Great Recognition led by Steve Mattern which seriously was the next best thing to an actual visit to the Spanish Chapel of the Santa Maria Novella Church in Florence, Italy. In the afternoon I chose a Nature Immersion with Sally Almodovar in which we found all kinds of treasures hiding in the duckweed of Lake Okoboji. I now have a new fondness for the caddis fly larvae thanks to Sally's excellent immersion and a delightful chapter on that creature in Among the Pond People by Clara Dillingham Pierson. I have since downloaded that book for free on my Kindle. the book discussion that night on our chosen retreat read, You Are What You Love was well attended and full of rich insights into human nature and God's grace. After dinner, I was able to corner a local gal who led me on a nature walk and told me the names of all the wildflowers I did not know. White Campion is a new friend to me.

Saturday's morning meditations were a gift of song and worship led by the talented Tyson Suemnicht and caused our hearts to soar over the sunrise on the lake. Thoughts from the Scholars was a most encouraging glimpse into the education journeys of several CM educated high schoolers. They all made their parents very proud, which might have gone against the theme of humility, but there it is!  The Poetry Immersion led by Karla Taber showed us how a truly living book about Longfellow by Catherine Peare lent itself well to narration and we delighted in his early boyhood poems. The narration workshop by Donna Johnson introduced me to a lovely book about Bonhoeffer by Patrick McCormick.

But the real fun happened after the conference when we gathered for an impromptu dry brush notebooking lesson and I saw all the talent in this group of moms, new talent as well as watercolor skills honed in months or years of practice. This was followed by a rollicking session of show and gloat, er, tell with everyone bringing their book finds from Jan Wright's amazing pop-up bookshop Books of Yesterday which was set up in the lower conference room.

I came away from the 2017 LER with a list of books I coveted, some new wildflower friends, lots of new kindred spirits, and a full heart. I may or may not have stopped at nearly every antique store on the way home in hopes of snagging some book treasures. I did make a stop in Mankato to see the Betsy-Tacy neighborhood. The museum was closed but the stop and the town were lovely and picturesque, evoking the fondest memories of the Lovelace series of books.

Learning for a Lifetime: Perks for the CM Teacher

My dad was a toastmaster and I fear he would have been very critical of all the "umms” in my talk. Still I do believe I was able to impart some of the gracious adventures God has seen fit to give me in my homeschooling journey of self education. One thing I forgot to say was that it is a good thing for your children to see you learning, whether reading, keeping journals, taking notes on nature walks or anything else you do to further your understanding.

I hope to add some more links to which I referred in my talk later this week when I can organize them. They will be added to this post.

Audio of Learning For a Lifetime: Perks for the CM Teacher 

Jeannette Tulis, Living Education Retreat 2017