Thanks for your interest in studying one of the CMEC Retreat Packages with a group! Here we have collected suggestions for group study, specific notes for each of our retreat packages, and information about the purchase process.
General Suggestions for Group Study
General Suggestions for Group Study
We suggest a few different options for using our retreat in a group setting:
1. Listen at home
Each member of your group could listen to one workshop at a time at home. Your group come then together weekly or monthly to discuss and share ideas. This is the simplest arrangement to organize.
2. Listen together weekly or monthly
If your group chooses to listen together in a group setting, one talk at a time, you could schedule the retreat audios over several meetings, one per workshop. Since each mom will have personal access to the downloads, those who have to miss a month can still "keep up" with the discussion by listening along at home, then come to the meetings they are able to attend. Each mom would need her handbook available as well as access to the slides on a personal or shared screen while listening. At each meeting, you could listen to the recording and then spend time discussing afterward.
3. Listen together as a “retreat”
One last option would be to host a “retreat” to listen to the talks together all over one or two days, breaking between talks for discussion or meals. You might even intersperse immersions like brush drawing or handicrafts like we did during the original event. You would want to have a screen handy to show the slides as you listen, and you could have mothers print their handbook to bring along, or you could provide printing services for the group. Mothers would have access to the retreat to go back and listen to again at their leisure.
The package includes seven audio workshops:
Workshop 1 - 45 min
Workshop 2 - 55 min
Workshop 3 - 1 hour 37 min
Workshop 4 - 47 min
Workshop 5 - 52 min
Workshop 6 - 1 hour 26 min
Bonus Evening Lecture - 30 min
Additional notes for a group setting:
Workshop 3 - Includes a big brainstorming section where moms should have paper and pen handy. We cut the quiet writing time out of the recording (it just fades out and then back in), but we left in the group brainstorming section since it is valuable to hear the ideas other mothers came up with. In a group, you may want to leave a little time in your meeting schedule to pause the audio and work on paper, then listen to the group brainstorming session together. You may want to pre-listen to that session and decide how it would work best for your needs.
The package includes six audio workshops:
Workshop 1 – 56 min
Workshop 2 – 1 hour, 13 min
Workshop 3 – 25 min
Workshop 4 – 1 hour, 9 min
Workshop 5 – 50 min
Workshop 6 – 43 min
Additional notes for a group setting:
Workshop 1 – Fades out and back in midway through for a picture study and narration. You could pause and do this together (5-10 min), then continue the recording.
Workshop 4 and 5 – Fades out and back in midway through for a brainstorming session in small groups. You could pause and do this together (about 10 min), then continue the recording.
The package includes seven audio workshops and a bonus Q and A:
Workshop 1 – 1 hour, 1 minAdditional notes for using workshops in a group setting:
Workshop 2 – 1 hour, 13 min
Workshop 3 – 1 hour, 16 min
Workshop 4 – 51 min
Workshop 5 – 1 hour, 6 min
Workshop 6 – 1 hour, 2 min
Workshop 7 – 35 min
Bonus Q&A Panel – 41 min
Workshop 2 – Fades out and back in twice: (1) for a lesson preparation immersion and (2) for a picture study and narration. You could pause the recording and do each immersion together (roughly 5-10 min for each), then continue listening.
Workshop 3 – The formal talk ends at 01:03:30. At that point begins the bonus notebook work session and small group discussion. We recommend listening to the introduction to the notebook work session, then pausing to spend about 20 minutes in quiet work as recommended. Then you can listen to the introduction for the small group discussion of Mary Hardcastle’s “It All Comes Down to Education” (included in the Retreat Handbook), pause and spend 20-30 minutes in discussion, then listen to the closing thoughts. See the final two slides in the linked slides for further details on these sessions. If listening together, you may want to split Workshop 3 into two meetings, one for the formal workshop on notebooks, and the other for the notebook work session and small group discussion.
Workshop 4 – Fades out and back in for a composer study immersion (music selection included in audio). You could pause when it is time for narration and do this together (5 min), then continue the recording.
Workshop 5 – Includes hymn singing at the end of the audio.
Bonus Q and A Panel – This casual panel discussion is a lower quality recording. You could choose to include this in your formal study or just offer it as follow-up listening for your group members.
Workshops 2, 3, and 4 include important accompanying slides.
The package includes seven audio workshops:
Workshop 1 – 50 mins
Workshop 2 – 1 hour, 30 mins
Workshop 3 – 1 hour, 29 mins
Workshop 4 – 56 mins
Workshop 5 – 39 mins
Workshop 6 – 59 mins
Workshop 7 – 1 hour, 23 mins
NOTE: All workshops include important accompanying slides, so you will want to have those available while listening to follow along.
Additional notes for using workshops in a group setting:
Workshop 1 – Fades out and back in twice: (1) for narration and a definition of the concepts presented in the session, i.e. self-education and masterly inactivity (instructions begin at 43:45) and (2) for a picture study and narration (instructions begin at 44:40). Pause the recording and do each immersion together (roughly 5 minutes for each), then continue listening.
Workshop 2 – Fades out and back in at 30:40 after participants are encouraged to consider the objectives for teaching history from the PNEU. Pause here for 5 minutes to review these objectives (see p. 39 of the Handbook), then take an additional 5 minutes to discuss them, then continue listening. At 01:15:20, see pp. 40-42 of the Handbook for an overview of the CMEC’s approach to history.
Workshop 3 – Fades out and back in several times during a history lesson immersion using Our Island Story (see pp. 45-48 in the Handbook). Pause at 30:30 to silently narrate, then continue listening; pause again at 37:50 to narrate the end of the chapter with a partner, then continue listening; pause again at 39:30 for 5 minutes of discussion. Continue listening for instructions about the handout on the qualities of a living book (see p. 49 of the Handbook). At 41:20, pause and take 5-10 minutes to discuss the qualities of a living book, then continue listening. At 53:50, pause and spend 5 minutes looking over a chapter from another text (see pp. 50-57 of the Handbook). At 1:07, see p. 58 of the Handbook for sample “books and things” of history in the CMEC.
Workshop 4 – Fades out and back in several times for narration and discussion. Pause at 12:00 to narrate to a partner, then continue listening. Pause at 20:48 for about five minutes to brainstorm on the work of a historian, then continue listening. Pause again at 32:00 to silently narrate a lengthy section from Home Education, continue listening until the reading is completed, then pause again at 32:50 to narrate the rest. Pause at 36:30 for roughly 10 minutes of discussion about illustrating and acting history, then continue listening.
Workshop 5 – Fades out and back in several times for immersions. Pause at 19:55 for 5-10 minutes to create a century chart of the life of William the Conqueror (see p. 64 of the Handbook), then continue listening. Pause at 27:50 for 5 minutes to begin your Book of Centuries using dates from William’s life, then continue listening. Pause at 30:10 to expand your Book of Centuries with additional dates and artifacts (see pp. 65-69 of the Handbook).
Workshop 6 – Fades out and back in twice during this session. First, pause at 22:50 for 10 minutes of discussion of the article read during the workshop (see p. 106 of the Handbook), then continue listening. Pause at 51: 50 for 10-15 minutes for a lesson preparation immersion (see pp. 70-71 for helpful handouts and pp. 50-54 for lesson text), then continue listening.
Workshop 7 – Fades out and back in twice during this session. First, pause at 25:20 for 5 minutes to compare the text utilized in Form 1 with that used in the high school years, then continue listening. Pause at 47:05 to narrate silently what has been discussed so far.
We recently lowered the price of past Retreat Packages, so everyone can now purchase the 2018, 2019, or 2022 Packages at the $20 price -- there is no additional discount for groups. You can send your group members directly to the pages under CMEC Retreats to complete their order.
Terms of Use :: Member Terms :: Privacy Policy :: Cookie PolicyCopyright Charlotte Mason Educational Center 2017