Last June, Micayla Strickland and her family piled into their truck, headed south, to compete against top archers in the United States. “Going to Daytona was stressful. It was just me—one kid in a bright red shirt and all those people,” she says. Over 5,000 top contenders attended the National Archery in the Schools (NASP) 2024 Championship. Micayla mastered her nerves and scored a personal best, placing fourth in her age division.

The sixth grader at Harvest Community School (HCS) joined the archery team four years ago on a whim. “I thought it was going to be a one-year thing because I didn’t think I was going to be good at it,” Micayla laughs. A growing trophy collection inspired her to stick with the ancient sport. She hopes to win scholarship money some day.​

     Many adults today are grappling to limit screen time. Schools that went high tech are dumping tablets. Doctors are concerned about what MRIs reveal about screen time and the development of parts of the brain linked to language development and reading skills. Families with anxious teens wonder if technology is the trigger. Most intriguing of all, the tech titans who made this all possible are raising their own children to be gadget-free. When some families try to put the genie back into the bottle, they realize addiction to screens is real.

     Putting limits on screens is not a simple matter of storing technology in a padlocked chest because going cold turkey can punish the whole family. The first step is to come up with a thought that makes the limit seem worthwhile to the person that you know and love. Some respond to an encouraging smile coming alongside to help while others will rise to an outright challenge. Some prefer direct information while others need to see for themselves. The point is to speak in a way that makes sense to your child.

• "Do you remember how much you used to play with Legos? They miss you!"
• "I miss you helping me in the kitchen baking Christmas goodies. I'll even let you lick the spoons."
• "Wouldn't it be fun to have a weekly paint party for you and your friends?"
• "Great-grandma has been sad lately. Let's visit her every Sunday at the nursing home after church."
• "You have a hard time sleeping on school nights which may be why you get in so much trouble. Let's see what happens if we only play video games on Friday night through Sunday afternoon."
• "Do you remember how upset you were last night about what those meanies said on _____ [insert social media platform]? Let's take a break from it tonight. How about you invite a friend over for a phone-free dinner and I'll make _____ [insert favorite meal]."
• "I bet you can't go without video games for a whole day."
• "I know you won't believe this but I bet you would feel better if you gave up screens for a day. You'll never know unless you try."

     The busy Christmas season might seem like a bad time to try on a new habit. Feedback from our Large Room meetings says otherwise. Filling spare time with screens over Thanksgiving break backfired. Children who only have screens on weekends reasoned that, if they could play games on weekdays of holidays, then they could play on weekdays of school days. Crying, complaining, and crankiness decked the halls.

     Christmas is a great time to cut back because of the opportunities to introduce liturgies. My mother is from Germany and we celebrated Advent every Sunday, counted down to Christmas with a family Advent calendar, put our shoes out for St. Nicholas on December 6, and prepared a gift for the Christ Child on Christmas Eve (a song, poem, or Bible verse). Think back to when you were a child. Are there little family traditions that have lapsed? Are there ones you would like to introduce?

     Think about what your children can do with you to prepare for Christmas. Turn on some Christmas music. Bake, decorate, make gifts, and wrap gifts. Collect some pinecones, holly, or evergreens to make a wreath. Make ornaments for the tree. Write letters to and draw pictures for military people deployed overseas or to nursing homes (which some Harvesters have already done at school).

     ​We have finished our first term of the school year which has begun well! Term finales help us see what students know, and we will celebrate with a Term Finale Dinner tomorrow night (November 14). Other highlights are at the end of this blogpost.

     The response to the Large Room meetings—an opportunity for parents to get together and chat—has been wonderful. The meeting in September focused on questions raised by families eager for their children to thrive. In October, we chatted about the staple of school: narration. Early this month, we discussed a vital habit: attention. We brainstormed good after-school routines, natural consequences (positive or negative) for finishing homework, consistency, small steps, drawing a realistic line in the sand, room for grace, and how screens affect children. Developing habits has so much scope for the imagination that we will talk about it next month. Please join us on December 3.

     One topic hooked our attention—those dazzling, distracting electronic screens. We decided that, while some children respond well to an hour of screen time a day, others need to wait until the weekend. In launching a new habit, Charlotte Mason believed the best way is to share an idea that makes the new habit worthwhile. That idea may be unique to the situation or it can be thoughtful reasons. 

     A couple of weeks ago, some friends had a brief talk with their child about limiting video games. They simply shared that keeping up in school was a challenge and playing video games only on the weekend might help. They pointed out the major transition in school next year and how important focus is in getting ready. The tutor had no idea of the change in screen habits but saw an immediate and lasting effect. The child rattled off the steps of long division and even pointed out which ones were confusing. The difference was so dramatic that the tutor sent a note home saying, “Whatever you are doing, keep doing it.” The attitude has been positive, thoughtful, and motivated ever since.

     Our next post will suggest screen-free ideas or apps that mesh with Harvest habits. In the meantime, we are celebrating the following:

• Our second annual BBQ/bonfire headed up by the McMillans was a blast—we came together as a school, raised money while enjoying music, games, and fellowship.
• Plenty of drivers have volunteered to take students to the nursing home and Taw Caw Park on Thursdays and we thank you for your support.
• We celebrated Spirit Week and capped it off with taking our costumed students to visit our Lake Marion friends.
• We have delighted in visions by van Gogh and music by Mendelssohn, made batik banners, and made much ado about Much Ado about Nothing. Classes have been learning folk songs, hymns, poems, prayers, and Bible verses.
• Classes and clubs have gone on field trips and attended archery tournaments and the agricultural fair. While the upper classes were disappointed that CSU canceled their performance, we are looking forward to our van Gogh field trip.
• Students have worked through classroom books and take home books and have made progress in copywork, studied dictation, narration, notebooking, and nature study.
• Elementary and below have worked through their Quest books and another is being prepared for the new term.
• The high schoolers have published The Squire’s Page, and more newsletters are in the works. The middle schoolers have made shields with family crests.
• We have gotten mileage out of MySchoolWorx, communicating with families, printing high school report cards, and organizing conferences.