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 s ...
How to Choose Memory Work for your Charlotte Mason Homeschool
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 ...
Charlotte Mason and Living Math: A Complete Guide
Learn how to teach a living math lesson in my on-demand video training and bring the Charlotte Mason method into action in your homeschool math lessons.How do you do math the Charlotte Mason way?Math in the Charlotte Mason homeschool can feel like an outl ...
Customizing a Curriculum for my Charlotte Mason Homeschool
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 pr ...
How I Teach Hymns and Folk Songs in my Charlotte Mason Homeschool
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 ...
Finding, Buying, and Organizing Homeschool Books
I think my oldest son was around two years old when I bought our first 'school book'. I needed to top up an Amazon order so that I could get free shipping, and they had a copy of Our Island Story in their warehouse deals. It's been floating around our ho ...
Charlotte Mason Homeschool Scheduling
After a long time enjoying gentle and quiet early years, my six year old son has started more formal lessons. In a Charlotte Mason homeschool, providing a broad and generous curriculum is a huge priority. This begs the question: how do you fit it all in? ...
To find more success with habit training, look at where you have been successful.
Do you find that when you think about habit training, you usually think of all the habits that aren’t going well? That’s my own typical reaction. I read Charlotte Mason’s writing on the topic, and I come away resolved to do better - a little overwhelmed ...
Before Curriculum: Using Charlotte Mason’s Educational Tools in the Home
You don’t need a curriculum to get started with the Charlotte Mason method. However, you do need an understanding of a few, simple principles. Find out where to start.
The Truth About How Much Time Our Kids Should Spend Outside
In Home Education, Charlotte Mason famously (or perhaps infamously) says that children should spend four to six hours outside every day - a bit less in winter. Time and time again, I have seen parents respond in one of two ways. Some panic at the thought ...