Does reading broadly, from several living books, on a frequent basis, sound overwhelming? Or to put in another way, does the goal of educating yourself seem so distant that you are reluctant to begin? If we still think of learning as cramming for an exam, answering multiple choice questions, highlighting, and rereading the same chapter…
Once we have brought together a collection of living books that widen our interests, and have carved out a bit of time to read them, what do we do next? How can we engage with our reading in such a way that we are changed people when we put the book down? These questions are…
In the last post in this series, I discussed education as the science of relations. It is right to develop an interest in a wide variety of knowledge and hence to have many ways of knowing and loving God and His creation. But how are we to obtain that knowledge? How do we set a…
I have been away from this series for a long time, so let’s review how we can apply Charlotte Mason’s principles of education to ourselves as mothers – or to any adult for that matter! In the first few principles, we establish that we are born persons. We have an inborn desire to learn and…
When it comes to habit training, I’m a big fan of starting with what I consider ‘concrete habits’. These are habits that require visible action. Making the bed, getting dressed, even saying ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. These are habits that you can either see or hear every time. While these sorts of habits certainly smooth…
When my eldest son started his first ‘formal’ year of homeschooling in January, we made some changes to our morning time together. While we already had the habit of reading lovely stories and enjoying music together, I began to ask my son to narrate our Bible passage for the day, and we began in earnest…
I recently had the chance to speak at the online Learn Free conference about one of my favorite topics: Charlotte Mason for the Early Years. I focused my talk on three questions that Charlotte Mason believed would help parents direct their child’s education: why must children learn at all? What should children learn? How should…
How do you do math the Charlotte Mason way? Math in the Charlotte Mason homeschool can feel like an outlier. You may not use beautiful living books. There might even be worksheets. It can be difficult to see how to bring what is often seen as a dry, systematic subject into the full, vibrant life…
Do we sometimes expect too much from our homeschooling curriculum? Obviously it’s important. A crucial part of the Charlotte Mason philosophy is to give our kids a broad and generous education. A curriculum certainly helps me make sure that we get the proportions right. But just because curriculum is a valuable tool, doesn’t mean that…
One part of Charlotte Mason homeschooling that I love is the inclusion of many riches. Artist study, composer study, and especially learning hymns and folk songs. These topics are not likely to ever appear on a standardized test, but in my opinion, they are essential to educating whole people. Despite the importance of beauty and…