Creating a Thanksgiving Celebration

Berg family Thanksgiving play circa 1992

It's almost November and that means Thanksgiving is right around the corner! As faithful readers of this blog know, I love Thanksgiving. This year all the Bergs will be gathering to celebrate it. Since our last Thanksgiving together in 2012, the family has grown by three grandsons and we are all excited to get our little guys together for their first Berg Family Thanksgiving. 

Our family has always done Thanksgiving in a big way. Whether it was a traditional dinner with extended family and friends or a gathering of immediate family, it's the holiday we "do" best. In years past there have been amateur theater productions featuring cousins in Pilgrim costumes. There have been long walks through fall foliage or highly competitive touch-football games before dinner. Dinner has varied from the traditional Turkey feast to a French-style fête modeled after Babette's Feast. While I may now cringe at the pictures of me in a pilgrim bonnet and we no longer put on theatrical productions, Thanksgiving still holds a very special place in my heart. It's centered on spending time with the people  you love and taking time to reflect with gratitude on the blessings God has so generously bestowed. 

Thanksgiving stories have always played a part in our family's celebrations. From recitations of Five Kernels of Corn to the breathtakingly amazing story of Squanto, the accounts of those who came before us always add meaning and dimension. Today I want to share a few of our favorites with you so that you can read these in the weeks leading up to November 27. 

The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh

This sweet book is perfect for introducing the history of Thanksgiving to your youngest children. Dalgliesh's Caldecott Honor title combines lucid text with folksly Americana illustrations by Helen Sewell. Beginning in England the book follows the Pilgrims on their quest for religious freedom to Holland and then to Massachusetts Bay Colony. Their devastating first winter and the help they received from the Natives all pave the way for a day set aside to celebrate God's faithfulness to this little band of brave seekers.

Three Young Pilgrims by Cheryl Harness

Gorgeous illustrations accompany this story of Bartholomew, Mary and Remember Allerton. These young siblings relate their adventures aboard the Mayflower, a journey that took sixty days, and learn how difficult it is to carve out a new life in a wild and foreign land. Squanto and Samoset play a starring role in helping the Pilgrims grow their own food. Harness's illustrations and maps provide detailed information on geography, ships, farming and more. 

The Pilgrims of Plimoth by Marcia Sewall

A long-time favorite, The Pilgrims of Plimoth is a bit more advanced than the previous two titles but just as lovely and rich with detail. Sewall's illustrations are sumptuous and her text is expertly research while being very approachable. Sewell includes quotes from journals kept by some of the Pilgrims, adding a first-person feel to the text.

Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxas

Relating the remarkable story of Squanto's life, this book is a whirlwind of adventure. Eric Metaxas is one of our favorite contemporary writers and he does not disappoint with this children's account of Squanto. Many people do not know that when Squanto first approached the Pilgrims he addressed them in English! How did a Massachusetts Native come to learn to speak the Pilgrim's language? Learn about it and in the next title.

Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims by Clyde Robert Bulla

This account is among the best we've seen it tells the amazing story of Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe, who went to London with some of the first English explorers, was sold into slavery in Spain, and finally returned to America where he befriended the Pilgrims when they landed.

The Landing of the Pilgrims by James Daugherty

The perfect family read-aloud this book tells in detail the story of the Pilgrim's quest to find a place where they could worship God according to their consciences. The Pilgrim's love of freedom played a significant role in the establishment of religious freedom in the States. Their willingness to give up the comforts they enjoyed in England, leaving behind family, friends, and possessions behind is a reminder of what so many have to sacrifice for their faith. 

William Bradford, Pilgrim Boy by Bradford Smith

This lovely book relates the childhood of the famous Pilgrim leader. Learn about his life in rural England and how he came to his strong convictions. Circumstances in his life prepared him for his essential role in the band of Pilgrims and children will enjoy hearing about his adventures as a child.

If you are interested in adding these titles to your library, give us a call at 800.889.1978 and we'll give you free shipping when you order all seven titles! 

All of these books will prepare your family for a Thanksgiving that's truly established on gratitude. One more way to prepare children is to make a Thanks Giving Tree. Ann Voskamp provides a beautiful free printable on her website here. Throughout the month of November, children record things they are thankful for on leaves and attach them to a tree. By the time Thanksgiving comes along you and your family will have cultivated an atmosphere of thankfulness that will be a wonderful blessing. 

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The Lightbulb Moment!

Today Kathy continues relating her family's story of their journey to a Charlotte Mason approach to education. I'm sure many of you have had similar journeys and would love to hear about them in the comments below! Enjoy!

“First comes thought; then organization of that thought, into ideas and plans; then transformation of those plans into reality.”

                                                                                                                 -Napoleon Hill

While I was pregnant with our daughter, my husband I began to talk about the subject of education. Looking at it from the logical perspective, we had three options: public school, private school or home school. The public schools in our geographical area were teaching topics which were counterculture to our Christian beliefs. The private schools included the Christian faith in their curricula, but were too expensive. The final alternative was the words “home school” sitting on the table before us. As the old saying goes, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” so I began to research the topic of homeschooling. I remember leaving our local public library six months pregnant with a stack of approximately twenty books on the topic of home schooling. After sifting through the stack, I narrowed it down to three: The Well Trained Mind, A Charlotte Mason Companion and Dr. Beechick’s Homeschool Answer Book. I began reading voraciously.

The Well Trained Mind was reminiscent of the way I had been educated. Dr. Beechick’s Homeschool Answer Book provided answers to the questions swirling around in my mind; however it was the last book that truly caught my attention, A Charlotte Mason Companion. Knowing the background of my maternal grandmother’s education helped direct me towards this particular book. I had “seen the proof of the pudding” in her life and this was the educational experience I wanted for our child. Eagerly, I shared my discovery with my husband and began filing away mental notes for the future.

Fast forward three months. Our daughter was born at the end of August and immediately we began implementing Charlotte Mason’s philosophy of education via “living books.” Living books are defined as “books written by authors who have a particular fondness for their subject.” They are books which are well written, make the subject come alive and “get in touch with great ideas from great men”. I perused our book shelves, as well as the public libraries. Goodnight Moon, Blueberries for Sal, Winnie the Pooh, and Little House in the Big Woods are a few examples of the living books I selected to begin reading to our daughter during feeding time.

As the preschool years came and went, we began to think more seriously about homeschooling. My husband and I had defined our goals and objectives for education: 

~Create and foster a lifelong love of learning.

~Provide a solid academic foundation that will last a lifetime.

~Equip and prepare our daughter to be a leader, not a follower, in the 21st Century.

So with these goals in mind, we were faced with the question of how do we go about executing our educational philosophy? Initially, we settled for a pre-packaged curriculum that billed itself as “literature based.” In reality it led our child to information overload and her burning out on education. I retrieved my copy of A Charlotte Mason Home Companion and began to read again. On paper it looked so simple but in reality it seemed to be a daunting task. Where in the world could I find a curriculum that fit the Charlotte Mason philosophy? I remember reaching my wits end and praying for guidance one morning after my devotional time. After I prayed, I remember a friend asking me if I had ever read Susan Schaeffer Macaulay’s book, For the Children’s Sake. Within minutes I was online placing a hold for the book at our local public library. Once I began to read For the Children’s Sake I could not stop. Then one day while I was reading, the light bulb finally went on in my brain. Charlotte Mason isn't about using a particular curriculum it is about implementing the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education using "living books." God spoke to me through Susan's writing and I finally got it! Hooray! No more searching and looking for the perfect curriculum because now I understood what it was all about.

After the "light bulb moment" I got to thinking "How did my great grandmother implement the Charlotte Mason philosophy of education in her homeschool?" I remember my grandmother saying she only had Home Education and Comstock's Book of Nature at the beginning. From there she added books which met Charlotte's standards and ordered them from Sears and Roebuck or J.C. Penney and the Wells Fargo man would deliver them. From what I had gleaned from my grandmother’s experience and readings, Charlotte Mason is all about the implementation of the “philosophy of education" and how we apply it in our homeschools. I am so thankful God led me to Susan's book. I felt like a tremendous burden had been lifted from my shoulders and now our family could truly experience the truth that “the life of the mind is sustained upon ideas.”

Thank you so much for sharing Kathy! If any of you have similar lightbulb moments, we'd love to hear about them! And if you want to know more about the Charlotte Mason educational philosophy, check out the links below. You may also want to invest in a copy of For the Children's Sake. It's an excellent, inspiring resource you will turn to again and again.

Learn more about Charlotte Mason and our philosophy at BFB at the following links:

Why Teach History?

Why Teach History Through Literature?

What is "Classical" anyway and who was Charlotte Mason?

Is BFB Classical?

Charlotte Mason and Susan Schaeffer Macaulay: Mentors of the Modern Home Schooling Movement

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Hooray for Real!

A while back we asked if any of you were using e-readers and the response was overwhelmingly "NO!" You spoke of the feel of pages, the smell of books, the beauty of books on shelves. And we agree. At BFB, we love our books and we're all avid book collectors. And while the reasons are often sensory or sentimental, there is now research that shows reading a printed book is better for our brains!

Recent research shows that e-reading and reading a hardcopy are two very different experiences. Science backs up the idea that reading on a screen results in lower reading comprehension, less retention, and reduces the relaxing effect of reading. All of these findings are something to consider as parents and educators. As students spend more and more time in front of computer and on tablets they are developing habits that could impede their ability to read for pleasure as well as hinder the development of reading skills such as plot comprehension.

There is fascinating research linking the tactile experience of reading a printed book with greater comprehension and retention. One 2014 study showed that people who read short stories from a Kindle had less retention of the story than people who had read a printed copy. And "slow reading", the sort required by a novel or long written work, is a skill that can be lost if it is not exercised. When reading electronically formatted articles or literary works, our reading pattern shifts into something more resemblant of skimming, as opposed to the concentrated reading that results in you being lost in the story. And if the book has hyperlinks built into the text, the distractions drastically increased and the ability to focus solely on the story is constantly interrupted. As we get more and more used to jumping around on our tablets, skimming articles, clicking links and jumping to other websites, our brain is being trained to process information that is not conducive to thorough, detail oriented reading.

I believe the ramifications of this lost skill are widespread, whether it's a reduced enjoyment of the relaxing practice of reading a novel, or accepting soundbite encapsulations of complex ideas and arguments, or a closing of one's world and experience due to an inability to persevere in reading a challenging story, we have a lot to lose. When children are not challenged to do anything more than read books they find to be fun and easy, there is a great risk that they will never come to know the satisfaction of making their way through a work like War and Peace. While we often talk about the pleasures of reading on this blog, I think it's important to sometimes remind ourselves that it is also a discipline and a skill that requires practice, especially for children. I was always an avid reader and it was not something I struggled to learn but I did have to learn how to persevere in my reading. I distinctly remember my mom assigning me Ivanhoe when I was about 12. Up to this point, reading was pure pleasure for me but I was in tears by the end of the first chapter. The exasperatingly detailed descriptions of a shepherd and the blades of grass being eaten by the sheep bored me beyond reason. I begged my mom to let me quit and read something else. She wasn't swayed by my arguments and so I struggled through, hating every second...until I suddenly was caught up in the fascinating story of Rebekah and the Black Knight and evil King. To this day I am not a fan of flowery Victorian prose, but I learned a valuable lesson in reading Ivanhoe. Reading is not always easy, sometimes it's work. But it will pay off. And the discipline of slowing down my frenetically paced reading, absorbing details, re-reading paragraphs and sentences that are especially beautiful is so much easier in a real book. So while the sentimental reasons for preferring books to e-books are still strong, we now know that they're better for our brains as well as our hearts. So take your kids to the library, give them books for their birthday presents, help them build their own libraries - it's a gift that will benefit their whole person.

To read more about the research on e-reading vs. reading as well as the relaxing and sleep-enhancing benefits of reading, check out this article.

We would love to hear what you think! Chime in below in the comments section and share your thoughts. Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Pinterest pages. To learn more about Beautiful Feet Books, click here. And if you've enjoyed this, please feel free to share using the buttons below.