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Charlotte Mason’s idea of keeping a timeline in a book is brilliant. Each time you read about a person or an event in history, you turn to the appropriate century in the book and make an entry. But the real…
“Why do the leaves fall?” My mind raced as her little face turned toward me with that so-familiar quizzical expression. OK. Science. Think! You learned this, didn’t you? Elementary school. Come on, come on, she’s waiting. Say something. Say anything,…
One of my favorite literary quotes is from Anne of Green Gables. (Some of you already know what it is, for you have hugged that quote to your own hearts too. Feel free to recite it along with me.) “Isn’t…
It’s always encouraging to hear stories of how Charlotte Mason’s methods work in real home schools. There’s something about listening to others’ successful experiences that bolsters your confidence and fuels your enthusiasm to keep spreading the feast for your own…
Confession time: Today I didn’t want to be the parent. I didn’t want to do schoolwork. My daughter was willing and eager, but when she sat down in her favorite school-time chair my heart sank. Why do I have to…
Picture study is such a simple way to give our children beauty in the midst of life and to cultivate their tastes for what is worthy and good. It adds so much to our week to take just five or…
As we discussed last time, storing God’s Word in our hearts makes sure that His ideas are always right at hand, no matter what situations we encounter. When you have memorized Scripture, the Holy Spirit can readily reach into that…
This morning as we did schoolwork, we started memorizing a new Bible verse. It’s not the first verse we’ve learned. Not by a long shot. We have been including Scripture memorization in our daily routine for about 15 years now…
One of the things I love about the Charlotte Mason Method is that I get to keep learning—as an adult! Just this past year I’ve been challenged by Joseph Haydn’s daily creativity, encouraged by Oliver Wendell Holmes’s contentment at home,…
Do you remember what a “gandy dancer” is? Way back in the first post of this series we mentioned that “gandy dancer” was the nickname that was given to early railroad workers who laid and maintained the tracks. Parents are…
One of the best gifts you can give your child is to help him become a person of excellent character. That is what habit-training can do: mold a child’s character. “ ‘Sow a habit, reap a character’; that is, the…
One of the great things about a Charlotte Mason education is the wide variety of subjects the students get to enjoy: history, geography, Bible, science, math, and language arts; plus music study, art, nature study, picture study, handicrafts, singing, poetry,…
Three composers. One had to think up brand new music every single day for years. One wrote one of his best pieces ever when he was a teenager. One could put anything in writing to music . . . or…
Over the years since Delightful Reading first came out, we have seen many faces light up as parents discover Charlotte Mason’s brilliant method of teaching children to read. Her techniques work with both new readers and reluctant readers and have…
The good habits you instill in your child’s life are an endowment. There is a subtle difference between an endowment and an investment. Habit-training yourself is an investment with a large return. An investment is something you usually do for…
All of the things we have discussed over the past few weeks on habit-training—taking on the effort of decision, spotlighting the trigger, and adjusting the consequences—are ways to help support your child’s Will. Habit-training yourself depends on a strong Will…
Habits have consequences. It is a fact of life that we witness every day. If you have a habit of doing the laundry regularly, you will have clean clothes to wear. If you have a habit of saving money from…
We talked last time about the importance of having a trigger that will prompt you to do the desired habit every time. Adults usually have to come up with triggers for themselves, but parents can help their children by spotlighting…
Whether you are instilling a new habit in your own life or in your child’s life, you need to make the initial decisions about which habit you want to work on, what it will look like, whether you need to…
As we discussed last week, in many ways your job of cultivating good habits in your child is just like cultivating them in your own life. Most of the principles and practical steps are similar. But there are also some…
