Thoughts, quotes, and ideas to refresh and encourage you as a parent and homeschool teacher.
Sometimes we make things harder than they need to be. Take writing this blog, for instance. I started the process several times this morning, deliberating, pondering, debating over how best to communicate what I’ve been thinking and feeling. I must…
Sometimes the question is asked by a newbie who is just beginning to research the different approaches to homeschooling. Other times a fellow CMer asks the question because she likes to hear more about something she enjoys too. Then again,…
A few weeks ago as we backed the truck out of the driveway, I was delighted to see the first blossom on the Carolina Jessamine vine that grows around our mailbox on the curb. I had noticed several buds a…
Spring. A time of growth. The budding leaves and blooming phlox around my house are beautiful reminders of the truth that children learn in order to grow. Charlotte Mason believed that. Children learn in order to grow, not just to…
Seventeen years ago, when I first heard a description of the Charlotte Mason Method, my heart resonated with that brief snippet. If you had asked me then why I was drawn to CM above all the other approaches to homeschooling,…
Most of us have chosen a “different” path in life. We homeschool. And even more than that, we don’t use a traditional method of homeschooling. We use Charlotte Mason’s approach. Those choices can be unsettling to onlookers. And if that’s…
I’ve been reading The Lord of the Rings lately, and one striking illustration has leapt off the pages again and again: whenever the enemy inflicts a wound, a deep sting is embedded that stays and debilitates even after the flesh…
Spring has certainly arrived here in Georgia! All around I see people outside doing yard work (and sneezing from the pollen)—breaking up the soil, pulling weeds, and cultivating their trees and gardens. Such a great reminder of what we’ve been…
In front of our house is a little perennial garden. I often tell people how much I love perennials because “you just plant them and forget them.” But that’s not quite true. Every morning as we return from walking the…
Last week we started a discussion based on Charlotte Mason’s reminder that the goal of learning is growth: “Children learn, to Grow”; not just to know (Vol. 1, p. 171). And we took a lesson from Frog and Toad that…
Frog and Toad can teach us some good life lessons. Have you read their story about the garden? Toad sees Frog’s beautiful garden and decides he wants one. So Frog gives him some seeds. Toad plants them and impatiently watches…
As every fall rolls around, the time comes to re-evaluate my daily schedule. Yes, I try to organize my children’s daily homeschool schedule, but the evaluating and tweaking go further than that. I like to take a look at how…
This spring and summer have been chock full of homeschool conventions, and I have enjoyed many lovely opportunities to present workshops. It has been a blessing and a privilege to share ideas from my experience as a Charlotte Mason-style homeschool…
I am at peace. My mind can focus happily as I write this note. It is not wrestling with little nagging thoughts that flit in uninvited and interrupt the flow. How did I achieve this happy state?, you ask. Yesterday…
Over the past two weeks we have looked at two practical Do Not bits of counsel that Charlotte gave her student teachers: Do Not Sit up Late and Do Not Bury Yourself in the Book. Charlotte’s ideas and teachings are…
