To Equip, Educate, and Inspire You for 2015

As the old year winds down, one thing I love to do is look for resources that will help me in the new year. A variety is best. I keep my eyes open for resources that will save me time, keep me focused on what is most important, help me continue to learn, enrich my home school, and encourage my heart.

Those are our goals here at SCM too. Our desire is to provide resources that will equip you as a teacher, inspire you as a whole person, and educate your family in a Charlotte Mason way.

Here is a list of resources and blog posts that have premiered over the past year—all designed to equip, educate, and inspire you for 2015.

First, A Quick Reminder

There are only a couple of days left to take advantage of our free shipping offer. All U.S. orders over $50 ship free with coupon code DECEMBER, but only through December 31.

And now, on to the list. Happy New Year!

Equip You As a Teacher

Here are practical ideas, tips, and techniques to help you be successful as a home school teacher.

• Enjoying the Early Years—Discover how to create a quiet growing time for your preschooler. This 2-disc DVD set, recorded at a live workshop, outlines practical ideas for instilling good habits, nurturing your child’s heart and mind, and teaching him or her how to read.
• Thoughts on Early Education—Charlotte Mason’s stand on safeguarding a child’s first six years and links to current articles that support the idea that pushing academics during the tender preschool years can actually hinder a child’s development and inhibit his academic progress later on.
• Learning & Living: Homeschooling the Charlotte Mason Way—This 12-DVD set, recorded live at an SCM conference in Jacksonville, Florida, is designed to equip you with the knowledge and confidence you need to teach your children the Charlotte Mason way—all the way through high school.
• 5 Steps to Successful Narration—Provide your children with successful narration lessons and you will equip them for the rest of their lives! This free e-book explains how.
• Your Questions Answered: Narration—If you have questions about narration, we have answers! Here are our best answers from years of blog posts, web pages, and conversations in one book—plus new material—to give you a handy, practical reference.
• The New SCM Learning Library—An introduction to our collection of more than 400 articles with practical tips for learning and incorporating Charlotte Mason methods, now organized and easily accessed thanks to our new website design also launched this year.
• Nature Study Ideas for Winter—A list of 13 different ideas for enjoying nature study during the coldest season of the year.
• Another Example of Facts vs. Ideas—”The difference between living ideas and facts is like the difference between Mister Roger’s Neighborhood and Sesame Street. Allow me to illustrate.”
• What They Don’t Know—An article that examines how cramming does not equal knowing and encourages you to choose the better way.
• Narration Q & A series—An 18-part series in which we invite questions from our readers and answer them, examining the ins and outs of narration from little ones to high schoolers and everything in between.
• Creative Narration, Creative Writing—A guest post from Karen Andreola that explains how to approach creative writing in a Charlotte Mason way.
• Charlotte Mason and Classical Education: Consider This—An interview with Karen Glass about her new book, Consider This, that will broaden your understanding of Charlotte Mason and Classical Education.

Educate Your Family in a Charlotte Mason Way

Here are resources to help you teach your children using Charlotte’s brilliant methods.

• Visits to North America—Explore North America through captivating photography, a traveler’s firsthand accounts, and step-by-step work with maps, plus lots of ideas for additional living books and activities. Other regions of the world are also available. (Grades 1–12)
• My Book of Centuries, 2nd edition—A timeline in a book that will help your child create his own record of what he has studied and form those personal connections that make history come alive. This second edition offers a thinner, more manageable format! (Grades 4–12)
• Singing the Great Hymns—This collection of great hymns makes it easy to do hymn study, helping your whole family experience the special delight of the great hymns of the faith! Audio recordings included! (Grades 1–12)
• Enjoy the Poems series—Make poetry study simple and enjoyable. Choose from a selection of well-beloved poets. (Grades 1–12)
• Two New Picture Study Portfolios—Everything you need to do art appreciation, all gathered into one beautiful package: gorgeous art prints, an artist biography, information on the pictures, and more! We added Millet and Leonardo da Vinci to the collection this year. (Grades 1–12)

Inspire You As a Person

Here are articles and resources designed to lift your head and heart as an individual, a parent, and a homeschool teacher. Be encouraged!

• “I am, I can, I ought, I will” rubber stamp—Add a delightful touch of whimsy and inspiration to notecards, student papers, journals, and more! This detailed, custom acrylic rubber stamp evokes the beauty of childhood with Charlotte Mason’s motto for students.
• When More Is Less workshop recording—In this live workshop, you are invited to come off the trail, set down your backpack, and take a peek into three compartments that tend to get overloaded. Be refreshed with a call to simplicity in your schedule, your home, and your children’s education.
• When More Is Less Calendar Journal—The latest in our popular personal calendar journals, When More Is Less invites you to stop trying to fit it all in and, instead, to embrace the simplicity that helps you to live well, to love well, and your children to learn well. Reassuring articles, inspiring quotes, handy calendars, and plenty of room to write. Now with a laminated, more durable cover! The 2015 version is now available!
• Flowing Stream or Stagnant Pool?—We who are teaching need to be careful that we have a continual supply of fresh ideas, as well as an outlet for them. Those who allow their minds and hearts to just sit are in danger of stagnating. Here’s encouragement to keep pursuing ideas for yourself.
• The Story of a Stamp—An interview with Charlotte-Mason-home-school-graduate, Kemble Hildreth.
• A Slow-Language Movement—In this world of random blog posts, concise infographics, abbreviated status updates, and instant comments, it is quite possible to find ourselves dieting on a regular supply of literary fast food. Here is encouragement to cultivate and guard our desire for and delight in words fitly spoken and carefully crafted.
• A Good Resolution—An article that reminds you that deciding to make a change is an important step, but you can’t stop there. Good feelings and good resolutions accomplish nothing by themselves. You must put the decision into practice. You must do.
• 6 Reasons I Love the Charlotte Mason Method—A 6-part series that for some, may be new; for others, may be simple reminders. But for all of you, no matter where you are on your journey, I want to say, “Trust me, these reasons grow sweeter as the years go by!”
• Pocketful of Pinecones, An Interview with Karen Andreola—Karen Andreola, graciously gave us this interview so we could have a peek behind the scenes at what was in her mind and heart as she wrote this favorite nature study book.

. . . and just wait until you see what we have in queue for 2015!