My heart goes out to you, Singing. You are one blessed, busy, dedicated mom!
I have not been in your situation, except for having all daughters, but mine are now 27, 22, and going-on-12, so I didn’t have the close age range that you have. I have always been aware of Charlotte Mason’s philosophy but didn’t educate according to it with my older two, and have done so only sketchily with my youngest. But I have some thoughts on adding riches, so maybe something will strike a chord with you.
Like you, I love the arts and the riches, and I think you can add these to your days fairly easily and still enjoy them, without making them school subjects or burdens. I know that’s easy for me to say when I’m not in your shoes, but here are some things you can try:
* If you have a good public radio classical station, turn it on and let it play throughout the day, or even for just a short time during the day if having music on is overstimulating or irritating to your daughters on the autism spectrum. This is the number one way my daughters have become familiar with and fond of classical music and composers, even though I have rarely done a composer study as such. We are a musical family and both of my older daughters played musical instruments, several of them in the case of my oldest. Then along came my third who has almost ZERO interest in playing an instrument. Yet she still has familiarity and enjoyment of classical music, partly because of listening to our local station, partly because of my next suggestion.
* Pick up at least the first “Beethoven’s Wig” CD. (or stream it on a device. I’m old, so we have CDs, haha!) These are the silliest things you’ll ever listen to and maybe they’ll drive you or your kids nuts, but if they don’t, they are weirdly addictive and educational. Also, if you can find the Classical Kids CDs (I think that’s what they’re called?) that tell fictional stories about composers using narration and lots of music, these are excellent. “Beethoven Lives Upstairs” is one of these, and there are several others. Also, classical music composed especially for kids, like Peter and the Wolf or Carnival of the Animals, is really enjoyable. One way I have connected my childhood with my daughters’ is by playing them Peter and the Wolf, only when I was a kid we listened on LP record!
* Don’t limit yourself to classical music. Listen to all different types of music that you enjoy. We are lovers of world music, and if you listen to a variety of music from other countries, you will also give your kids a taste of languages other than English. This has been a very rich source of education in our house. I grew up listening to lots of jazz music because it was my dad’s favorite, so my kids have also. You get the idea.
* Find a book of poetry you like and read a poem during a meal now and then, or at some time when the girls are otherwise occupied. Sitting by the tub while a kid bathes? Read her a poem. Waiting for a kid to fall asleep? Read her a poem. It doesn’t have to be a long poem or a complicated one.
* If you spend time driving, listen to music, audio books or poetry.
* Choose a piece of art, print it out or buy a print, and hang it where you and your girls will see it frequently. Change it whenever you can. Look at it when you want to, notice what you notice, discuss if you want to.
These are just a few thoughts. Again, my heart goes out to you. You are managing a lot of little people with a lot of complex needs, and you definitely don’t need One More Thing to do. It’s easy for me to make suggestions, but they may sound completely unrealistic for your particular family, especially with a daughter who tends towards overstimulation and melt-downs. So take everything I say with a grain of salt.
I tend to be a “big picture” person rather than a detail person, almost to a fault sometimes. It has always been easier and more appealing for me to educate using time and immersion than structured segments, even when those segments are only supposed to take five minutes a week. Because let’s face it, they always take longer than you think they will, because you’re simultaneously feeding the baby, swatting a fly, ignoring the phone ringing and talking one girl or another off a ledge (that has been my experience, even though my girls are not on the autism spectrum).
So, I would encourage you not to think of the riches as a requirement that must be done in a certain way at a certain time or frequency. And above all, do what it takes in your own heart to keep you from expecting a certain outcome. As far as it is possible for you, make the riches a pulse in the rhythm of the day rather than a main melody. Add in one (maybe the background music?) and then, after that is established, another. And even if you don’t add another for a whole year or more, you still will have added one. Then let time do its work. Over time, the riches become richer while you don’t necessarily see it happening. It sneaks up on you in the best possible way. I have found that true with parenting, too, even in the midst of the worst possible days, months, years, but that’s another post.
Hang in there. You are doing important work! You are keeping people alive and loving them, and that’s no small thing.