Lessons at Blaskberry Inn
Lessons at Blackberry Inn
From the author of the homeschool classics A Charlotte Mason Companion and A Pocket Full of Pinecones comes Lessons at Blackberry Inn (Charlotte Mason Research & Supply, 2009). It is for those who read A Pocket Full of Pinecones and wished there were more, for those who did not read it and wished you had, and for those who know nothing about that book but who would enjoy a peek into the lives of another homeschooling family.
Blackberry Inn is a fictional account of the Weaver family that Karen Andreola introduced in A Pocket Full of Pinecones. The mother, Carol, narrates the story, which is set in the 1930s, a time not unlike our own politically and economically. She is just finishing her first year of homeschooling and contemplating her direction for the next year. The family has moved from the city and is now ensconced in a country inn, which is their family business. The book contains a lively account of a busy family and a mother with high ideals who sometimes overreaches her ability to balance all her diverse responsibilities to love her husband, nurture her children, keep up with meals and housework, and plan homeschool lessons while she helps run the inn, serves her church and community, and tries to make friends in a new town. Did I mention she is also pregnant? Does this juggling act sound vaguely familiar to you?
It is not necessary to read A Pocket Full of Pinecones before reading Lessons at Blackberry Inn. The former is the story of Carol’s first venture into the world of homeschooling after learning about some of Charlotte Mason’s writings. Told by means of diary entries over the course of a school year, it focuses primarily on the teaching of nature study and gives an overall picture of how to do that. The mother is learning that despite the interruptions of life her children actually acquire knowledge quickly.
The lessons continue in this new book. While homeschooling is not always at the forefront, interspersed between the characters and events are methods of doing picture study, covering history, learning poetry, bringing math to life, obtaining narrations, and exploring literature. This may help many who understand the theory but often falter at implementation.
As a novel, the book is light, undemanding, and relaxing reading for the typically tired homeschool mom. Although the problems and conflicts often have somewhat uncharacteristically satisfying resolutions, who does not enjoy believing that neat and tidy lives are possible?
The most valuable aspect of the book, however, is a picture of mother culture, the main theme Andreola seeks to convey. You feel the rhythm of homeschool life here. Both planned and spontaneous lessons, most not from books, occur regularly. We can all relate, perhaps not to the 1930s or to the idyllic little community described but to the fears and failures and fretting over meals and messes and mountainous tasks.
Carol’s life, though full and demanding, is orderly; she has diligently practiced Charlotte Mason’s habit training, and the atmosphere exudes contentment and serenity. Haven’t we felt the tension of varied responsibilities, not the least of which is the endless planning and plotting of lessons for the children and mulling over the progress they have made? This is a mother’s daily joy and burden—her constant concern for the well-being of her home and the ones she loves there.