"Education, like faith, is the evidence of things not seen." Charlotte Mason
2025 Charlotte Mason Maryland Retreat
.jpg/:/cr=t:0%25,l:1.46%25,w:97.09%25,h:100%25/rs=w:400,h:533.3333333333334,cg:true)
Every Common Miracle
With special guests Dawn Duran and Querida Thompson, please see their bios below.
"...but one of the secrets of the educator is to present nothing as stale knowledge, but to put himself in the position of the child, and wonder and admire with him; for every common miracle which the child sees with his own eyes makes of him for the moment another Newton."
-Charlotte Mason, Home Education, p. 54.
Retreat Information
Saturday, April 26, 2025
9 am - 3:30 pm
Redeemer Anglican Church
1309 Bay Ridge Ave, Annapolis, MD 21403
Registration $40
Sign up
Registration will open on Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at 6:30 AM
- Sign up here: Registration Form
- For questions, please email Jess Smith at smithjessc AT gmail DOT com.
Retreat Details
Participation will be limited to 40 attendees. Registration closes April 5. Financial assistance is available.
We ask that participants bring their own lunch. Snacks and drinks will be provided throughout the day.
Snapshot of the Day
- Presentations on everyday subjects: We will spend time pondering the riches of wonder to be found in math, literature, nature, and art.
- Common Miracles and the Musical Imagination with Querida Thompson: Querida, a teacher and professional musician, will bring her vast knowledge and experience in orchestral music together with her deep love of story to invite us fully into the rich world of music.
- The Big Picture with Dawn Duran: Encouragement for the homeschooling mom. Dawn is a fellow homeschool mother and a huge champion for us. She believes we can face the challenges with grace and the help of the Holy Spirit. She will spend time encouraging us to continue on the journey.
- Helpful Resources. We will share resources in handicrafts, nature study, self education, literature, and more to help you in your homeschool journey.
Our Speakers
Dawn Duran
Querida Thompson
Querida Thompson
Dawn Duran lives in Maryland with her husband, their two teenage sons, and their dog Storm. She is a physical therapist by training and a wife and mother by vocation. Dawn has been home educating her sons using the Charlotte Mason philosophy for more than a decade. She encountered Charlotte Mason when her children were toddlers, and has immersed herself in Mason’s wisdom ever since.
Dawn founded Charlotte Mason Maryland after moving to the area in 2014: unable to find the community for which she longed, she decided to initiate one. For several years she enjoyed leading local students in the study of Plutarch and Shakespeare as part of the Friday Feast community. She is the creator of Swedish Drill Revisited, in which she adapts the physical education method recommended by Charlotte Mason for a modern audience, and author of the book A Reasoned Patriotism: Critical Thinking and Civic Duty in an Age of Polarization. She writes for The Discerning Home Educator and serves as aide de-camp to Cindy Rollins, with whom she co-hosts The New Mason Jar podcast. Dawn is also a member of the CMEC team, for which she serves in an administrative capacity.
Querida Thompson
Querida Thompson
Querida Thompson
Querida Thompson has been teaching people how to listen to music for over twenty years to a wide variety of ages from infancy through middle school, high school, and college. Interestingly, Querida has never *applied* for a teaching position in her life. She is trained as a classical musician and haphazardly fell into a teaching career that, after 20 years, she considers God’s calling and never turns a teaching opportunity down as a result.
Recently, Querida presented a webinar for the House of Humane Letters entitled, "How to “Read” a Symphony: Revealing the Ingenuity of Haydn’s Symphony No. 42 in D Major." Her teaching entwined story and music so that listeners went away inspired to explore the world of music more fully. She also gave an exciting presentation on Handel's Messiah to members of Cindy Rollins' Advent Discipleship Program in December of 2024.