l’HaRMaS: Cultivators and Conversations - WONDERfield Community School

Alison Gibson

Alison is a home educating mother of 6 (2 graduated), living on an acreage in central Prince Edward Island. Having grown up in Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, she considers herself a Northerner at heart, but with an Irish husband and years living in Scotland, she also has a love for all things Celtic.

After an eclectic start homeschooling her oldest, she discovered Ambleside Online. Despite not knowing anything about Charlotte Mason at the time, she jumped in with both feet and has never looked back. With a background in social work and foster care, she is interested in the ways that Charlotte Mason’s principles can bring beauty and vitality to the lives of all. A baker of bread, lover of art, and admirer of beautifully crafted sentences, she believes that Charlotte Mason’s ideas are more than an educational philosophy — they are a lifeline.

A Room Hung with Thoughts

Sir Joshua Reynolds, an 18th-century portrait painter, said, “A room hung with pictures is a room hung with thoughts” (1784). Paintings offer us glimpses of worlds and ideas beyond ourselves. It was a fresco that sparked Charlotte Mason’s own “Great Recognition”. One painting in a chapel in Florence inspired a mighty thought that has influenced the education of a myriad of children for well over a century. Paintings can spark great recognitions for us all, if we have eyes to see. This talk is a testimony to the power of art to move us to tears, inspire us with courage, give us hope, remind us of our humanity, and breathe beauty into darkness.

Melanie Walker-Malone

After teaching in traditional school settings and then homeschooling for almost a decade, Melanie founded Red Mountain Community School, a small-by-design school devoted to Mason’s philosophy and methods, in Birmingham, Alabama, in 2005. Now in Washington, DC, Melanie continues to travel to mentor teachers, to lead a Mason Day called Heartwood, and to write about the conservation of childhood at asequel.substack.com. Seasonal and slow living, exploring museums, nature preserves, libraries, and spending time at table with her family and friends are the ways she spends her days.

The Paradise of the Unconscious Child

Mason refers to a person’s earliest years as ‘the paradise of the unconscious child.’ Current research affirms that there is a kind of mist over the child’s first years, akin to the mild, gentle dawning of the day. We are curious about each other’s backgrounds and long to supply our own children and grandchildren with happy, full memories. Recognizing the impact of the life of Jean-Henri Fabre, whose l’HaRMaS shapes our particular gathering, I set out to uncover details that might hint at how he became such an influencer in our circles.

In 1910, a Dr. Legros set out to write the biography of Jean Henri-Fabre, with Fabre’s approval and input. Fabre wrote in the Preface, “My friend wants to present to the reader a picture both of my life as a whole and of the work which it has been given me to accomplish…. it seems to me that in the depths of my being I can still feel rising in me all the fever of my early years, all the enthusiasm of long ago, and that I should still be no less ardent a worker were not the weakness of my eyes and the failure of my strength today an insurmountable obstacle.”

Join me as I explore stories of Fabre’s inner l’HaRMaS, the ideas and habits, that kept his fever, enthusiasm, and ardency burning until his final days.

Conversations from previous years

2025

Anne White

Anne White lives in Waterloo, Ontario, and feels lucky to be able to see a stand of giant pine trees out her back door. (Did you know that looking at trees is good for your mental health?) She is the author of the Plutarch Project series of study guides, is an Ambleside Online Advisory member, and is the leader of a local C. M. study group which sprang up after the first l'HaRMaS retreat and is still going on after ten years (we are finally getting around to reading Formation of Character).

Anne has also plundered the storehouse of ideas for talks (at l'HaRMaS and elsewhere) about William Morris, Arthur Lismer, T. S. Eliot, and the shapes of clouds. Her favourite character in Norse mythology is Iduna, the grower of apples.

Stories From the Storehouse

Charlotte Mason wrote, “Once more, we know that there is a storehouse of thought wherein we may find all the great ideas that have moved the world...We read [a child] his Tanglewood Tales, and when he is a little older his Plutarch....” (Parents and Children, pp. 231-232) We may have figured out already why Plutarch matters, but what is Tanglewood Tales doing in there? What is unique about Charlotte Mason's approach to mythology? (We may sneak in a little Plutarch as well.)

Emily Coupland

Emily is an educator with experience in diverse educational settings over the past 15 years, but most recently as a home educator who has pursued a deeper understanding of the Charlotte Mason Philosophy through Prov-en-der’s Sojourn. She is a biological, adoptive, and foster mama to five children (currently 2, 5, 8, 9, and 11 years old).

She has been pastoring, leading the Aughrim Schoolhouse (a one room schoolhouse Charlotte Mason gathering for families), homeschooling her children, and farming for the past few years.

She is excited to bring her Charlotte Mason perspective to her new role as Primary and Resource Vice Principal at a local Christian school.

Was it Charlotte?

Education is an atmosphere, a discipline and a life. When we immerse ourselves intentionally in the world of ideas through books and things we begin to understand the “science of relations”, as Charlotte Mason says. “We consider that education is the science of relations, or, more fully, that education considers what relations are proper to a human being, and in what ways these several relations can best be established; that a human being comes into the world with capacity for many relations; and that we, for our part, have two chief concerns--first, to put him in the way of forming these relations by presenting the right idea at the right time, and by forming the right habit upon the right idea; and, secondly, by not getting in the way and so preventing the establishment of the very relations we seek to form.”

When we start to read Charlotte Mason’s volumes we realize just how relevant, revolutionary and ahead-of-her-times she was. “Was it Charlotte?” is simply a sampling of ideas and we get to discover if the idea is from a modern source, historic source or Mason.

Jennifer Gagnon

Lana Doan – BA CYC, MSW

Lana Doan is a Social Worker, Parent Coach, and passionate advocate for attachment-based parenting and trauma-informed care. With over 21 years of experience in child welfare, mental health, and leadership, she specializes in supporting families and professionals navigating complex emotional and behavioural needs.

As a parent of a neurodivergent child, Lana brings both lived experience and clinical insight to her work. She is deeply committed to helping caregivers understand and respond to the needs of children and adults with ADHD, anxiety, and trauma histories. Her coaching and training are grounded in neuroscience, empathy, and practical strategies that strengthen connection and resilience.

A sought-after speaker and facilitator, Lana delivers engaging, evidence-informed presentations on topics including attachment parenting, neurodiversity, trauma, and mental wellness. Her relatable approach bridges the gap between research and real life, empowering her audiences with tools for lasting impact.

Wired for Connection: Attachment, Technology, and the Mental Health of Our Children

In today’s fast-paced digital world, many parents and caregivers are feeling overwhelmed — navigating how to raise emotionally healthy children while living in a culture of constant distraction. In this talk, we’ll explore the foundational principles of attachment theory, how the four attachment styles shape a child’s emotional development, and why small, everyday interactions are more powerful than perfection.

We’ll then turn to the impact of modern technology — not just social media, but the rapid-fire pace of digital content — and how it’s reshaping our children’s brains, attention spans, and ability to stay grounded and connected. Drawing on neuroscience, mental health research, and real-life parenting moments, we’ll unpack how phones are contributing to rising anxiety in children and youth — and what we can do about it.

This session ends by linking these two critical topics — attachment and digital wellness — with practical, encouraging takeaways. Whether you’re a parent, educator, therapist, or caregiver, you’ll leave with clarity, hope, and three simple tools you can start using right away to support the mental health and emotional security of the young people in your life.

Mandy Deter

Mandy Deter joined Red Mountain Community School in 2005. For twenty years, she has worked in this school and in every grade from 1st to 12th. Considering atmosphere, discipline and life and the great feast for the past 20 years has shaped her life well beyond the classroom. In 2014, she began a "Sojourn" with the pro.ven.der collectif and has enjoyed regular visits with WONDERfield and L'HaRMaS.

These rich relationships continue to impact her personally and in the classroom. Currently, she is teaching the Upper Form class at RMCS and has also transitioned into the role of Head of School. She is married to David, a Chaplain at Children's Hospital of Alabama, and mother to three adult RMCS graduates.

Melanie Walker-Malone

Profound and Practical

“Lost and found! How beautiful are those two words when one hears them both together.” My eyes smarted with tears when I read this sentence recently. "How true!" I thought, and added internally, "and the word lost is so sad when alone." L’HaRMaS participant – you have 6 months to locate the origin of these words. Could it be Shakespeare, or Plutarch, or Jesus? Or George Eliot, or E.O Wilson, or Helen Keller? Hmmm. Time will tell. Mason’s school practices are designed to nourish and enliven the whole self, even regions that might be lost, hidden, or unbidden. This offering will reflect on this truth, reminding us that PNEU principles are as profound as they are practical.”

Sarah Kuipers

Shelly Suzuki

Shelly is an avid reader who has been using Ambleside Online with her children for 10 years. When not homeschooling, Shelly raises chickens and guineas, travels as often as possible, and enjoys the tension of living between cultures.

As Shelly began her homeschooling journey, she cherished using the rich history, literature, and biographies from North American, British, and Western European authors. So many people had given their time and effort to weave together curricula and to freely share books!

Shelly was moved by Charlotte Mason’s quotation "To leave off or even to begin with the history of our own country is fatal. We can not live sanely unless we know that other peoples are as we are with a difference, that their history is as ours, with a difference, that they too have been represented by their poets and their artists, that they too have their literature and their national life."

Yet, she found it more difficult to find living books about other peoples and cultures; books about the Philippines written by Filipinos, literature set in Kenya written by Kenyan authors, narratives of North American history shared by Haudenosaunee, Abenaki, or Lakota.

Since 2017, Shelly has worked with other like-minded readers to find these books and make them available to others. She is looking forward to sharing some things she has learned. Join her Facebook group "Living Books of All Peoples" to learn more.

The Personhood of Our Neighbours

In School Education, Charlotte Mason tells us that “there seems good reason to believe that the limit to human intelligence arises largely from the limit to human interests, that is, from the failure to establish personal relations on a wide scale with the persons who make up humanity –– relations of love, duty, responsibility, and, above all, of interest, living interest, with the near and the far-off, in time and in place.“ I look forward to examining this idea with you. If, as Charlotte Mason says, "It rests with us to give the awakening idea (of the great human relationships) and then to form the habit of thought and of life.", how do we live this out in our school days? How do we choose books that do justice to the personhood of our neighbors in time and place? When studying conflict between groups, what is my duty to those on different sides? What do I do when I discover that I have made a caricature of a complex people?

As we explore this idea together, I hope you will share in the joy and interest that has transformed my family.

Soyon Thompson

Soyon is a home educating mom of four children who met Charlotte Mason over 10 years ago. She has spent the past decade in the slow and steady way of living, learning alongside of her children and husband. She was born in South Korea to missionary parents and has called 7 countries in 3 different continents home. Now she resides in Essex County, Ontario, finally putting down roots with her family.

Three years ago, she started a small flower farm-floristry business called The Adorned Garden as an extension of her own life-long education and as a way to be a steward of the land and talents with which God has gifted their family. She is a quiet yet passionate advocate of the arts in all forms, believing in the power of Beauty to align people with the Truth. Soyon attributes her years of slowly infusing Charlotte Mason's philosophy and methods into family life, integrated with a living relationship with Jesus as the mainstay of this project.

While this earth is a temporary home in a very literal sense for her, she is grateful for this time and place where she gets to send down roots for the next generation of human beings to flourish with a deep and wide knowledge and relationship with the Creator, humankind, and the universe. She looks forward to experiencing this beauty with our l’HaRMaS community.

To Do, to Bear, to Give

Walk together with me through the valleys and mountains of choosing Education as a Life. I'd like to share how the profound principles and methods outlined by Mason, aligned and led by the Holy Spirit, our Ultimate Educator, have guided my family through some adventures. I want to invite you to journey into a deeper understanding and application of what our mentor Miss Mason calls the "The Way of the Will." I will share how it has strengthened me as a home educating mother, and even led me to start a small business that is at the core an extension of the delectable helpings I’ve received from the Feast. This Feast we know is a deep and wide and ever growing knowledge of God, people, and the universe that brings delightful hope to be shared with the world. The blending of business start up and homeschooling has given me (and my family) a daily practice of choosing actions and feeding on ideas that help us to look upon the world as a place wherein we are "to do, to bear, to give" rather than "to have or to get." And in obedience it is a life of joy even when it feels hard, and my hope is to encourage you and offer some sharpened will-strengthening tools to live into the promptings that the Spirit gives you. Can you imagine all the lives represented by l'HaRMaS participants and their children and these precious lives going forth “to do, to bear, to give” in this world? So many adventures await.