Posts and comments about Charlotte’s philosophy of education as an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.
Children need food to grow. Nutritionists tell us that the best way to feed our children for physical growth is to regularly provide good portions of a variety of healthful foods several times a day. Charlotte Mason believed that the…
Thanks for coming along on this little study that caught my attention. This whole idea of self-educating seems clearer now. We’ve looked at six tools that facilitate self-education: Read or hear literary books. Put it in your own words (narrate).…
When my children were young we had a designated Craft Box. Into this box went empty paper towel tubes, clean styrofoam trays, sheets of felt on clearance at the fabric store, empty cereal boxes, paper that had been printed on…
I was talking with a mother recently whose daughter had memorized a poem. The mother shared how some relatives had stopped by, and the mother had taken advantage of their visit to encourage her daughter to recite the poem for…
Write it down. That was the instruction at the end of the first chapter in the book I was reading. The chapter had been full of ideas and possibilities. So much so that my head was spinning with different images…
Most of you are familiar with the illustrious fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes. He is famous for solving mysteries by paying close attention to details. One scenario sticks out in my mind, because it sums up the Holmes character in a…
“So where shall we meet?” I was arranging to have lunch with a friend, and we were trying to answer one of the most difficult questions that can ever be posed to two or more people: Where do you want…
It struck me the other day how much time and effort we homeschooling parents put into teaching. We spend hours discussing strategies, learning techniques, and evaluating materials, striving to improve our presentations as teachers. All of that is good. We…
Thousands of you have enjoyed our free video resource, SCM Answers Your Questions. We’re glad those short, informal recordings have been encouraging. And we thought it might be helpful to add some more videos to the series, answering more of…
“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,…
When I was taking piano lessons, my teacher started with some basic, foundational points: keep your fingers curved; sit tall on the bench with both feet on the floor; listen to your playing. No matter what piece I was working…
As mothers we know that children grow best on generous portions. Meagre meals can stunt a child’s physical growth, but a generous diet of food gives that growing body lots of nutrients to draw from. It’s the same emotionally; child…
Choosing the books for your Charlotte Mason home school is an important task. Put any two CMers in a room for any length of time and chances are good that they will be talking books. “What do you think about…
Last week we talked a bit about how living ideas feed the mind. You will hear that phrase “living ideas” often in a Charlotte Mason approach to learning. Sometimes it’s hard to grasp the concept of a living idea as…
Some friends of ours are getting married this summer. As I’ve watched their relationships with their spouses-to-be grow, it struck me how silly it would be if one of them would say, “Okay, I now know my fiancé’s telephone number,…
