Five Books, Twenty Minutes, One Charlotte Mason Friendly Home Preschool
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Five Books, Twenty Minutes, One Charlotte Mason Friendly Home Preschool

ByAmy
This entry is part 9 of 10 in the series Charlotte Mason for the Early Years

In previous posts, I’ve covered both why we are doing preschool at home this year, and how we are keeping it in line with Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophy.  Now I’d like share the five books I have in our preschool basket. Each of these books is appropriate for my nearly four-year-old. Some are just a…

Charlotte Mason Friendly Preschool at Home
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Charlotte Mason Friendly Preschool at Home

ByAmy
This entry is part 8 of 10 in the series Charlotte Mason for the Early Years

In my last post, I listed the reasons why our family is spending time on ‘preschool’ this year. Despite Charlotte Mason’s belief that children shouldn’t have formal lessons before the age of six, I think that our approach to preschool is in line with her philosophy. Preschool is short. Really short. We are looking at…

Why bother with Preschool at Home?
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Why bother with Preschool at Home?

ByAmy
This entry is part 7 of 10 in the series Charlotte Mason for the Early Years

One year ago, I assumed I wouldn’t do any sort of a formal preschool with my kids. Charlotte Mason advocates starting formal lessons no earlier than age six. So why complicate things? I trusted the method, and the wisdom of many home educators who said, ‘Wait on formal academics’. How things change in a year,…

Teaching Reading the Charlotte Mason Way – Getting Started
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Teaching Reading the Charlotte Mason Way – Getting Started

ByAmy
This entry is part 6 of 10 in the series Charlotte Mason for the Early Years

It’s easy to think that there isn’t much to do school-wise for the first six years of a child’s life when you plan to home educate the Charlotte Mason way. She assertively states in her writing that a mother’s (modern-day me reads that as ‘parent’s) chief responsibility is to make sure that a child’s first…

Three Simple Activities to do when your Preschooler is Interested in Rainbows
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Three Simple Activities to do when your Preschooler is Interested in Rainbows

ByAmy

[sc name=”Disclosure” ] A few weeks ago, I mentioned that N age-nearly-three asked me if we could make a rainbow. I saw this as a great opportunity to follow his interest and to expand his experience with rainbows. Today I want to share a few, simple activities we did together to ‘go with the flow’…

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Intro to Art Appreciation (for Preschoolers!)

ByAmy

Crayons. Finger paints. Glitter. Cotton balls. Glue sticks. All things that come to mind when you think about art for young children. Pinterest is teeming with ways to involve children in creating pieces of art. While I’m not a big fan of coloring-inside-the-lines, everyone-copies-teacher sort of projects, giving the children opportunities to learn techniques and…

Practicing Masterly Inactivity with your Toddler
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Practicing Masterly Inactivity with your Toddler

ByAmy
This entry is part 5 of 10 in the series Charlotte Mason for the Early Years

Recently, I introduced Charlotte Mason’s concept of masterly inactivity. Her thinking was that it is often best to ‘let children alone’ except in situations where we need to provide guidance and support, or to assert our authority. Additionally, in School Education (affiliate link) Miss Mason explains that there are several areas where parents really should practice masterly inactivity. I’d…

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Creating an Ideal Outdoor Play Space for your Preschooler

ByAmy

As I mentioned last week, we’ve moved house recently. The backyard in our former home was mostly a brick patio, with a patch of grass roughly the size of a postage stamp. Our new garden isn’t enormous (especially by American standards). However, there is plenty of room for the boys to run, play, and enjoy…