Wisely and Well: Preparing Our Hearts for A Faithful Year
The books are stacked and waiting. The fresh planner sits unopened on the kitchen table, and somewhere beneath the lists and the good intentions there is a quieter question that deserves your attention first. What is this year actually for, and who are you becoming as you carry it?
There is a difference between a year that is merely organized and a year that is faithfully ordered. Wisely and Well is a gentle, unhurried retreat for the homeschool mother who wants to begin from that deeper place. Over the week days, through 3 short recorded sessions, and one live sessions, you can receive on your own schedule and one live gathering at the week's end, we will step back from the scramble of preparation and attend to the heart that will carry the year.
You will be in the company of two friends who take this seriously in their own homes, and of a gathered community of mothers who understand both the weight and the hope of the season ahead. Come tired if you must. Come with your coffee and your questions. You will leave with vision, with encouragement, and with a settled sense of what faithfulness looks like for you this year.
Our Week Together
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Sunday August 9th
Welcome To The Week
A short recorded welcome from Beth and Leah arrives Sunday evening to open the retreat, settle your expectations, and invite you into the rhythm of the days ahead.
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Monday August 10th
Session One: A Faithful Way Forward with Leah
The first recorded session releases Monday morning, ready whenever a quiet pocket of your day appears, whether that is naptime, an early morning, or the last light of the evening.
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Wednesday August 12th
Session Two: Attention in Action with Beth
The second recorded session arrives Wednesday morning, giving you room to sit with the first, narrate in our band group, and engage in conversations before jumping into cultivating the habit of attention for mothers.
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Friday August 14th
A Live Conversation with Beth & Leah LIVE
The week gathers to a close with a live conversation between friends. We will draw the threads of our sessions together, share how we are living this out in our own homes, and open the floor for your questions. A recording will be available if Friday finds you elsewhere.
Attention in Action:
This workshop focuses on practical strategies for cultivating the mother-teacher’s attention and understanding how it directly shapes lesson quality and home atmosphere. Drawing on Charlotte Mason’s thoughts that attention is a trainable habit, the session demonstrates how maternal attentional habits influence student focus, engagement, and the relational tone of the home or classroom.
The session begins with a brief overview of Mason’s ideas about attention and habit formation, followed by a discussion of modern research on distraction, cognitive load, and multitasking. Participants will then explore concrete methods for managing distractions, structuring lessons, and practicing deliberate focus.
By the end of the time, attendees will understand the role of the mother’s attention in shaping student habits, gain tools for creating a focused and relational learning environment, and leave with actionable steps to strengthen their own attentional practices. This session equips mothers and teachers to improve lesson flow, foster sustained student engagement, and maintain an atmosphere of calm, attentive learning for students ages 6–14.
A Faithful Way Forward: Pursuing Christ In Your Everyday Homeschool
As homeschool moms, it's easy to feel pulled in countless directions. We can often feel overwhelmed, wonder if we're doing too much, or worry that we aren't doing enough. Some voices urge us to do less and simplify, while others encourage us to strive for more. But what if there is a better way? What if, instead, we are invited to life our eyes to Christ?
Join us as we explore what it means to pursue Christ in all things, including our everyday homeschool. You'll discover how our identity in Christ frees us to faithfully steward what God has blessed us with peace, grace, and wisdom.
What Your Registration Includes
A recorded welcome video from Beth and Leah to open the retreat
Two full recorded sessions, released Monday and Wednesday, yours to watch and rewatch on your own schedule
A live closing conversation with Beth and Leah on Friday, with time for your questions, recorded for anyone who cannot join in the moment
Emails through the week to guide you from session to session, so nothing is lost in the shuffle of August
An off social media group for fellowship, discussion, and easy access to each recording and call.
Free access to both The Mother's Circle and the Living Bright Collective Collective for 30 days
Your Companions for the Week
Beth Howard
Bethanyanne Howard is the founder of The Charlotte Mason Home, where she develops curriculum, resources, and programs designed to support homeschooling mothers. Her work centers on the intellectual, cultural, and spiritual formation of mothers, helping them cultivate habits of attention, curiosity, and discernment that directly shape the learning environment for their children.
Using her degree in education, she has spent years of experience guiding her own children and mentoring other mothers. Bethanyanne brings a practical approach to Charlotte Mason’s philosophy, showing how ongoing maternal education and intentional daily practices transform both home atmosphere and student engagement. She creates workshops, immersion experiences, and curriculum that equip mothers to integrate living ideas, art, nature study, and reflective practices into their lives while navigating the demands of homeschooling.
Passionate about empowering mothers to flourish in their dual role as parent and teacher, Bethanyanne combines research, Mason’s principles, and lived experience managing chronic pain and autoimmune illnesses to provide guidance that is both faithful to Charlotte Mason and deeply practical for modern homeschooling families. You can find her on Instagram @thecharlottemasonhome
Leah Nickolas
Leah Nicklaus is a Midwestern mama of five boys, ages three to eleven. She enjoys implementing a Charlotte Mason education for her sons, currently teaching three in formal lessons while cherishing the early years with her youngest two.
Leah is also a former dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer. She is currently in her third year of teaching a Movement Class at her local Charlotte Mason co-op, where students learn the beauty of movement through stretching, games, sports, Swedish Drill, and folk dancing.
Leah is a board member of her local Charlotte Mason co-op and actively participates in her local Charlotte Mason book club. She founded Living Bright Homeschool which seeks to encourage mothers in the Lord and equip them to bring Mason’s principles into their homes. Her greatest hope is that a life-giving education would point parents and their children to the truth, goodness, and beauty of the gospel. You can find her on Instagram @livingbrighthomeschool.
Your Questions, Answered
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Only one gathering happens live, and that is the closing conversation with Beth and Leah on Friday. Everything else arrives as a recording you can watch whenever a quiet pocket of your day appears. The Friday conversation will be recorded as well, so even if that afternoon finds you elsewhere, nothing will be lost to you.
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The gathering was designed with a real mother's August in mind. The sessions release gently across the week rather than all at once, and every recording remains available to you for 60 days. You are welcome to move through the week at the pace your home allows.
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The heart of this retreat belongs to any homeschool mother who wants to begin her year from a settled and faithful place. Beth teaches from the Charlotte Mason tradition and Leah brings her own Christ-centered vision of faithful stewardship, and both speak to questions every home educator carries, whatever curriculum sits on her shelf.
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Yes. Both sessions are grounded in the conviction that our identity rests in Christ and that a faithful year flows from that rootedness. Mothers of any background are welcome to join us, and you can expect the teaching to draw openly on Scripture and faith.
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A device that can play a video, an inbox where the sessions can find you, and whatever posture of rest you can manage, whether that is a quiet chair in the early morning or earbuds while you fold the laundry. There is nothing to print, prepare, or purchase beyond your registration.
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Everything arrives by email through the week, beginning with a welcome video on Sunday evening. You will never need to hunt for a link or remember a login, since each session comes to you as it releases. There will also be a band group that allows you to access all the content at your own pace.
The books are stacked and waiting. The fresh planner sits unopened on the kitchen table, and somewhere beneath the lists and the good intentions there is a question that deserves your attention first. What is this year actually for, and who are you becoming as you carry it?
There is a difference between a year that is merely organized and a year that is faithfully ordered. Wisely and Well is a week of gentle, unhurried gathering for the homeschool mother who wants to begin from that deeper place. Over four days, through short recorded sessions you can receive on your own schedule and one live gathering at the week's end, we will step back from the scramble of preparation and attend to the heart that will carry the year.
You will be in the company of two friends who take this seriously in their own homes, and of a gathered community of mothers who understand both the weight and the hope of the season ahead. Come tired if you must. Come with your coffee and your questions. You will leave with vision, with encouragement, and with a settled sense of what faithfulness looks like for you this year.
The Shape of the Week
SUNDAY
A Welcome to the Week
A short recorded welcome from Beth and Leah arrives Sunday evening to open the retreat, settle your expectations, and invite you into the rhythm of the days ahead.
MONDAY
Session One
The first recorded session releases Monday morning, ready whenever a quiet pocket of your day appears, whether that is naptime, an early morning, or the last light of the evening.
WEDNESDAY
Session Two
The second recorded session arrives midweek, giving you room to sit with the first before receiving the next.
FRIDAY
A Live Conversation with Beth & Leah LIVE
The week gathers to a close with a live conversation between friends. We will draw the threads of our sessions together, share how we are living this out in our own homes, and open the floor for your questions. A recording will be available if Friday finds you elsewhere
The Sessions
WITH LEAH · LIVING BRIGHT HOMESCHOOL
A Faithful Way Forward: Pursuing Christ In Your Everyday Homeschool
As homeschool moms, it's easy to feel pulled in countless directions. We can often feel overwhelmed, wonder if we're doing too much, or worry that we aren't doing enough. Some voices urge us to do less and simplify, while others encourage us to strive for more. But what if there is a better way? What if, instead, we are invited to life our eyes to Christ?
Join us as we explore what it means to pursue Christ in all things, including our everyday homeschool. You'll discover how our identity in Christ frees us to faithfully steward what God has blessed us with peace, grace, and wisdom.
WITH BETH · THE CHARLOTTE MASON HOME
Attention in Action: Habits for the Mother-Teacher
Every morning we ask our children for the habit of attention over their books, and the mother-teacher's own attention is asked of her just as surely, by the reading aloud, the narration, the child at her elbow, and the phone humming in her pocket. Her attention directly shapes the quality of every lesson and the very atmosphere of the home, which makes the tending of it true preparation for the year ahead.
This workshop focuses on practical strategies for cultivating the mother-teacher's attention, pairing Charlotte Mason's principles of habit formation with gentle tools for guarding your presence through the school day. Attention in action is faithfulness in practice: the trained habit of returning, again and again, to what is true and present and worth attending to.
What Your Registration Holds
EVERYTHING ARRIVES IN YOUR INBOX
A recorded welcome video from Beth and Leah to open the retreat
Two full recorded sessions, released Monday and Wednesday, yours to watch and rewatch on your own schedule
A live closing conversation with Beth and Leah on Friday, with time for your questions, recorded for anyone who cannot join in the moment
Emails through the week to guide you from session to session, so nothing is lost in the shuffle of August
An off social media group so the conversation can continue long after Friday's gathering closes
Free access to both The Mother's Circle with Beth and the Living Bright Collective with Leah for one month