About once a year, I have a panic about teaching my kids a foreign language. Last year, I panicked right before I left home to walk through the Lake District for three days. I came home to a massive pile of books that I’d forgotten I’d ordered. My panic comes from regretting that I don’t…
The latest addition to our Charlotte Mason homeschool curriculum is scouting skills. Scouting doesn’t receive nearly as much attention as other Charlotte Mason staples, like nature study or artist study. However, there are strong connections. The modern scouting movement has roots in Charlotte Mason’s work, and scouting was taught in Parents’ Union Schools. Scouting as…
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…
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…
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 house for years now, only…
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? The answer? A lot comes down to scheduling. In…
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 with all the habits I want to address within…