Author: Teresa

My Summer Planning Workflow for The CMEC
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{ SUMMER PLANNING | WEEK 1 } As I envision the 9th year of our homeschool journey, with ease and simplicity in mind, I set my intentions on ways to experience and delight in the books my children will read, create a life-giving atmosphere, and provide what is needed to facilitate self-education, so that I can stand aside and practice masterly inactivity.

“The parent who would educate his children, in any large sense of the word, must lay himself out for high thinking and lowly living; the highest thinking indeed possible to the human mind and the simplest, directest living.” (Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children, p. 170)

With the conclusion of weekly extracurricular activities, these are some ways I would like to practice high thinking and plain living in the summer:

🤍 TAKE INVENTORY: Back in April, during @the.cmec curriculum launch, I already had a rough draft of my pre-reading lists. Now I look at each summer month’s calendar, count the weekdays I’ll be home for planning, and estimate what I can reasonably accomplish each week. It looks like I have about three weeks for school prep in June.

🤍 SELECT BOOKS TO “SEE AND FEEL”: From my pre-reading lists (thoughtful, leisure, and thorough reading), I choose one-third of the books I would like to experience, mixing subjects I find challenging (history, for sure!) with those I naturally enjoy (science, as always!).

🤍 WHAT PRE-READING LOOKS LIKE: For some books, I read only the first chapter to get a feel for the story. For others, I use @the.cmec subject guide or read the entire book. Depending on the subject, I may take notes on key ideas, commonplace favorite quotes, try new narration methods, jot down discussion questions, and brainstorm captain ideas. The goal is not so much to “teach,” but to model self-education so my students are encouraged to exercise imagination and just thinking.

🤍 RELATIONSHIP MATTERS: Although my children enjoy the unstructured freedom of summer, I still hope we can gather briefly each day to immerse ourselves in truth, goodness, and beauty, or simply read something delightful together.

☕️ How do you envision your summer this year?

{ ENCOURAGEMENTS FOR THE SUMMER | PART 2 } Upon reflecting on the previous school year, do you find yourself discouraged by things not going the way as planned, with your efforts seemingly wasted? In the absence of busyness, it is natural to slip into self-pity, self-judgment, and even bitterness.

“I have been exhausted for so long that I sometimes can’t remember what it feels like to have something to offer my Creator in these snatched morning prayers. But he remains, and by his presence I am woven back together.

In that weaving, I understand the aching prayers that instigated this search for quiet have culminated not in my perfected striving but in rest. In a nourishment I did not earn. In halcyon quiet. In grace.” - Sarah Clarkson

🤎 I hope and pray that you will find moments of quiet to allow the Creator to weave and heal all the unmet goals from last year, as we move forward with new vision, new hope, and the anticipation of hope, taking extra intention and effort to remain focused and inspired during these loose summer months:

🤍 @THE.CMEC SUMMER RETREATS: Even though I have listened to these retreat recordings so many times in the past, I still find it deeply helpful to revisit Charlotte Mason’s methods and reaffirm what I believe about my children’s education and how to lay a rich feast in the coming year.

🤍 JOURNALING: Keeping a mother’s dairy has helped me release some heartfelt emotions on difficult days. I also use it to record little things I want to remember about each child: whether it is something new they have tried, a funny quote they have said, or random thoughts I may not want to share with them just yet.

🤍 LIFE-GIVING BOOKS FOR MAMA: It is always encouraging to read other people’s stories, how they persevere through struggles and continue to flourish no matter what season they find themselves in. I am finishing “Reclaiming Quiet” and hope to continue reading “This Beautiful Truth” and “Well Lived” throughout the summer.

☕️ How do you stay motivated and encouraged? I would love to hear what has been especially helpful and life-giving for you during the summer months.

{ ENCOURAGEMENTS FOR THE SUMMER | PART 1 } With the spaciousness of summer and the many moving parts in our schedule, how are we as, mother teachers, nourish the quietness of our hearts while also staying productive for the upcoming school year?

I have found that the best way to begin any meaningful conversation is to first experience the text myself. This summer, I plan use my quiet time to pre-read my Form 5 Bible selections, taking notes from the NIV Application Commentary in my @wholeheartedquiettime journal.

🦢 STICKY NOTES: Following the @the.cmec reading schedule, I organize my notes by term and week (with page numbers in my Bible journal) so they are easy to reference throughout the year.

🦢 PRE-READING NOTES: I record literary features, cultural background, and key themes from the commentary. I also brainstorm captain ideas for her to ponder and jot down questions we can discuss together.

🦢 A PRAYER FOR HER: Without overanalyzing the original meaning in the Bible, this commentary often bridges the ancient texts to contemporary significance and applications. As I read, I use the prayer section to write down any thoughts, prayers, or convictions the Lord places on my heart for her.

🤍 How do you pre-read for Bible? Do you have a favorite commentary for your family? I would love to hear what has been meaningful in your home.

{ LET’S FINISH STRONG | Part 6 } We are in our last official school week of the year. While this journey has not been easy, and some struggles still remain, I am grateful for every halcyon days and how far we have traveled in our pursuit of self-education.

“But halcyon days have come to mean any time when life and joy stem the tides of suffering; they are a season when no storms rage and the winds blow gentle, when life returns and life begins.” — Sarah Clarkson 
🦢 JOY IN THE SUFFERING: We have chosen to savor these final weeks of school with everyone gathered once again around the same table during our morning lessons. Even with unresolved issues and constant challenges, the joyful atmosphere (often stirred by my hilarious Form 2 student) has made the last readings and narrations more enjoyable.

🦢 LIFE RETURNS: Moving into the spaciousness in these summer months, I have decided to join @sarahwanders 12-week study on my favorite book “Reclaiming Quiet.” Rather than endlessly seeking the absence of noise, I hope to pursue the healing and renewal of my own weary and distracted heart. I imagine a summer marked by gracious quiet: taking a walk outside, tending my garden, or just admiring my new baby lavender plants from @chappellhilllavenderfarm, all while planning for the 2026–2027 school year.

🦢 LIFE BEGINS: Whether the storms are raging or the winds are gentle, I find renewed affirmation in my labor as I look through my children’s narration notebooks. My Form 2 attempted to write a funny news report as her narration on Asgard of Heroes. My Form 5 student finished some of her history readings early and eagerly began reading a biography of Benjamin Franklin. Naturally, her fascination with family trees inspired her to create one in her own narration.

🤍 This journey has taught me the importance of pausing to reflect on the successful work we have accomplished, with patience, gratitude, and compassion, especially on the difficult days.

{ LET’S FINISH STRONG | Part 5 } In the month of May, our family schedule is always filled with celebrations, recitals, and many important moments. As we scatter ourselves thin, moving from places to places and chatting about summer plans, our hearts (especially mine) can easily become distracted from finishing the term and school year strong. As I look ahead to Term Three Weeks 9 &10, I plan to check in with my students more frequently, making sure that we have not left out any books or readings unfinished before the year’s end.

🦢 DAILY CHECK-IN’S: Over the past two weeks, as I have been checking my students’ math work daily, I’ve noticed how much more efficiently we can move forward with consistent, frequent feedbacks. Rather than waiting until the weekends, I plan to continue brief daily check-ins with my Forms 2 and 5 students, recording their progress and reading their narrations each day.

🦢 WEEKLY MEETINGS: With many activities falling on the weekends this month, I will need to remain flexible with our weekly meeting times. Even if we only have 15 minutes to reflect and plan for the upcoming week, I find that realigning our timetable and refreshing our vision helps us stay on track.

🦢 TERM THREE GOALS: At this point in the year, I am also tracking our term goals for each book more closely. I am taking note of any subjects that have deviated from our plans and creating a list to ensure we can revisit and catch up on those areas during Week 11.

🦢 RELATIONSHIPS OVER ACCOMPLISHMENTS: With all of this in mind, I often remind myself that the only way to finish the school year strong is to prioritize our relationships above all else. It is okay if we do not complete every single book. I trust that my students will continue their journey of self-education in the summer months ahead.

🤍 How do you stay on track during the final weeks of the school year?

#thecmecfinishingstrong

🤍 A flip-through video of my Form 5’s student planner for 2026-2027 @the.cmec. Enjoy!

{ FORM 5 STUDENT’S LOGBOOK } Based on the needs of my high school student, I revisit and refine her logbook each year to nurture a growing sense of independence, ownership, and accomplishment. The planner also serves as a gentle encouragement toward a positive attitude and perseverance, especially in seasons when circumstances make it difficult to complete everything as planned.

🦢 YEAR AT A GLANCE: An overview of the 2026-2027 school year, allowing her to thoughtfully plan her commitments and social activities.

🦢 WEEKLY LOGBOOK: A combination of timetable, logbook, and weekly meeting notes in one spread. I include only a start time for the morning and afternoon, the time allocated for each subject, and the books she will be reading (without page numbers). There are no rigid time slots or checkboxes—just a welcoming space to record successul work accomplished and to reflect on any deviations from the timetable.

🦢 FORM 5 BOOKLIST: I printed the @the.cmec Program 10 booklist so she can see at a glance all the books she will be reading, along with where to find them in our home.

🦢 TERM AT A GLANCE: These pages mirror those in my Mother’s Lesson Planner. They help her understand term goals, track weekly progress, and note areas that need attention during our catch-up week each term.

🤍 In many ways, these pages serve more than a student planner: t is a quiet guide, helping her grow in self-knowledge, responsibility, and grace toward herself as she learns to cultivate self-education.

{ TERM THREE WEEK 7 } Along this homeschool journey, from time to time, it is natural to look at our timetable and to-do lists and feel discontentment or even bitterness towards our children, when they do not meet our expectations. In moments of my own frustration and feeling of inadequacy, I often need to remind myself to stand firm in becoming my children’s “friendly ally,” as Charlotte Mason put it, not a strict dictator or taskmaster. I believe that my own attitude does contribute to the atmosphere of our education. The more I practice “masterly inactivity,” the more naturally self-education flows from my children’s lives.

🦢 FORM 5 // Many of our grand conversations happened during car rides and over meals this week. She picked up “The Federalist Papers” while waiting at work and was so amazed at how well those fragmented essays were written during one of the Founding Father’s busiest political seasons. “Mama, just imagine how even better these writings would have been if they had the time to sit down and write!”

🦢 FORM 2 // When we first began this school year, we had to slow down our British History reading because the spine is a much richer text than when she was used to. At one point, she even developed a sense of fear and resistance toward this subject. But we continued steadily, reading aloud a few pages at a time, until one day she told me she would rather read it independently and narrate in her notebook. For the past two weeks, she has been developing the skill of summarizing and narrating as she moves from paragraph to paragraph. Although I did not see it coming, I am really happy for her to make such definite progress this year.

🦢 KINDERLEBEN // We continue to read our devotional and the Little House series, giggling and chatting during our brief school time in the morning. This week, he tagged along with his sister to look at some prepared slides under the microscope. He drew some pictures and ran over to tell me all about them with exceeding excitement.

🤍 In learning to be their “friendly ally,” I am reminded that education is not something I can force, but something I am invited to steward with patience, trust, and humility.

{ PRE-READING WORKFLOW } Every year I try to preview my students’ books in advance and attempt to become a prepared teacher, however imperfectly. As a slower reader, teaching three different forms in the upcoming year, it does feel a little overwhelming trying to do all things right. But Mason’s words are always life-giving:

“The teacher’s part is, in the first place, to see what is to be done, to look over the work of the day in advance and see what mental discipline, as well as what vital knowledge, this and that lesson afford; and then to set such questions and such tasks as shall give full scope to his pupil’s mental activity.” (Volume 3, pg. 180-181)

🤍 TEACHER’S TRAINING: As I flip through @the.cmec form guide, under each subject, I highlighted all the recommended CMEC retreats, previous form meetings, courses, etc., and aim to review them again every the summer. These recordings and resources are tremendously helpful in training me as a mother teacher of Mason’s methods as we approach each subject in the new school year.

🤍 ANNUAL GOAL: As I look through my master pre-reading list, I plan to pre-read a whole year of history, science, and geography for my Forms 5 and 2 this summer. I am still not confident if this goal is attainable, but I will give it a try, as these subjects require focused study that I often cannot afford during the school year.

🤍 TERM GOAL: I then aim to preview and take notes for the rest of all Term 1 books in the summer. Terms 2 and 3 will be tackle throughout the terms and school breaks. I hope that this approach will be less overwhelming than going through all books at once.

🤍 MONTHLY / WEEKLY GOAL: As Bible reading, common subjects, and Form 1 readings do not require as much effort on my end, I decide to do the prep work during the week/term. This will also give me a fresher memory of the readings for our grand discussions.

☕️ How do you approach pre-reading in your homeschool? I would love to hear about that!

{ PRE-SUMMER PLANNING } This time of the year, as I try to fit in every little moment to preview next year’s @the.cmec curriculum, I often find it helpful to start making lists:

🦢 Summer Reading List: After studying the form guide & program, I divide up the books for each term into leisure, thoughtful, or thorough reading. This list will give me an idea of what posture of a student I would take, thus helping me decide what book to pick up, depending on my level of energy and focus at the moment.

🦢 Weekly Reading List: While I imperfectly make it a goal to pre-read, I enjoy reading my students’ assigned Bible passages and poetry week by week. So I write them down in my Mother’s Logbook in advance.

🦢 Term at a Glance: As I find pockets of time to divide up their reading based on @the.cmec form program, I then transfer each of my student’s term assignments and write down the page numbers to give me the big-picture view.

🤍 FROM THE ACHIEVE // Last year when we first started using @the.cmec I wrote a detailed blog post on how to approach summer planning using our curriculum. I hope you will still find this post useful. Link in stories. Enjoy!

https://athinkinglove.com/my-summer-planning-workflow-for-the-cmec/

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ." — Colossians 3:23-24

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