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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…
Have you ever heard of a gandy dancer? I just discovered that term and am enjoying the whimsy and rhythm of it. It’s the nickname that was given to early railroad workers who laid and maintained railroad tracks in the…
Your child can't answer an exam question. Now what?
We hope the Subject-by-Subject series has been helpful to you. Once you know Charlotte Mason’s methods, the next step is to get a plan and gather the resources to put the methods into practice. : Play in new window |…
(I am so pleased to welcome a guest writer who excels at presenting an insightful summary of math the Charlotte Mason way. Richele Baburina has extensively researched Charlotte Mason’s approach to math and compiled her findings in her excellent book,…
Most of you were probably taught English grammar the same way I was. In first grade we were told, “A noun is the name of a person, place, thing, or idea. Circle the nouns in these five sentences.” Then in…
When we talk about writing, we usually have one or both of these aspects in mind: handwriting and composition. Let’s look at each one and outline how Charlotte Mason approached them. : Play in new window | DownloadSubscribe: RSS |…
Sometimes I read a book that grips my heart and challenges me to change. As I’m reading I think, Oh, this makes so much sense; I’ll always remember what it says. And for a little while I recall poignant passages…
I’m a list person. As I sit at my desk and type these words, I’ve lost count of how many items I’ve added to my to-do list already today. Lists can be effective tools for many things. But when it…
When my oldest child was a little one, the thought of teaching her how to read hovered in my mind as a huge challenge. I don’t remember waking up at night, wondering if I would be able to teach her…
Charlotte Mason used a two-faceted approach to teaching science that was very effective: systematic studies and spontaneous discovery. The systematic studies were accomplished through reading and narrating living science books. The spontaneous facet was added through doing nature study. :…
Thousands of families have benefited from Charlotte Mason’s wonderful counsel on habit-training children. The timeless strategies she outlined continue to change homes around the world. Yet, as I travel and speak on habit-training, parents often approach me with this concern:…
Most homeschool parents I talk to get a funny look on their faces when I mention poetry. That’s because their own schooling experience with poetry consisted of dissecting a poem to bits at the teacher’s insistence. Such over-analysis and examination…
Charlotte recognized that not every student would become a virtuoso, but she understood that beauty and enjoyment can be added to life by appreciating good music, singing, and learning the basics of playing music. Here’s how to approach music in…
I’ve been cleaning off my bookshelves these past couple of weeks, trying to cull out duplicates. Now, usually duplicate copies of a title are not a problem in a household of readers, but when the shelves are full and you…
If you had graduated from one of Charlotte Mason’s schools, you would have studied several different foreign languages: French, German, Italian, and Latin. And not just studied, but used and understood those languages quite well. : Play in new window…
The more time you spend around the Charlotte Mason Method, the more you come to realize what a nicely balanced approach it is. CM is not all books and narration; Charlotte also recognized the importance of working with your hands.…
It seems that many schools either sprinkle a little art into the curriculum here and there as an afterthought or ignore it all together because of time constraints. Neither approach reflects the goal of a generous curriculum. Charlotte Mason approached…
Sally Clarkson has held a special place in my heart for about twenty years now. My homeschool journey began with a copy of her Educating the WholeHearted Child on my nightstand, much dogeared and highlighted. Over the years she continued…
Of all the subjects we include in our children’s education, the most important should be their Bible lessons. When Charlotte Mason talked about the knowledge that is important to give our children, she cited, “First and chiefest is the knowledge…
If you had mentioned geography to me twenty years ago, when I started homeschooling, my mind would have immediately visualized dusty maps with puzzling colored shapes and lists of imports, exports, and natural resources. Oh, and currency types. And sometimes…
When I graduated from “the school of the yellow bus,” I knew next to nothing about history. Yes, I had made good grades, but very little about history had stuck. There was no reason to retain that mental list of…
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…
At the end of the year, it is often encouraging to look back and see what has been accomplished. While it’s tempting for any homeschool mom to focus on what she didn’t get done, there is a lot to be…
God bless you all this Christmas DayAnd drive the cares and griefs away.Oh, may the shining Bethlehem starWhich led the wise men from afarUpon your heads, good sirs, still glowTo light the path that ye should go.
Some days it requires a Herculean effort to do homeschooling. Let’s be honest. Homeschool moms carry a large load, and at times we just don’t feel like we have the gumption to do another math lesson or supervise another science…
Today we’re happy to announce a new free video resource: SCM Answers Your Questions. Last week we invited you to send in your questions about homeschooling with the Charlotte Mason Method. We selected ten of those questions to answer, and…
Here are some tips for graciously answering the homeschool critics in your family.
How do you accurately represent something you love so much in 15 seconds or less?
Over the past few weeks I have been gleaning much from two people who are nearly as opposite as opposite can be: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Carl Sandburg. About the only things they have in common are that they were…
A year ago I had never heard of C2C. Then my friend Crystal told me her dream: she wanted to walk across England. The entire country. From coast to coast (thus, C2C). This past August she and her husband Ethan…
Have you ever noticed how some things jump out at you once you start thinking about them—things you didn’t notice until someone brought them to your attention? For example, portion sizes. My husband and I eat out a lot when…
Many of you are in the throes of habit training this fall. So over the next few weeks let’s take a look at three little words that will play a big role in that process. We’ve discussed key words in…
Every month you have a wonderful opportunity to access an inspiring collection of blog posts from other moms around the world who use the Charlotte Mason approach. It’s called the CM Blog Carnival. At the carnival site you will find…
A couple of weeks ago my daughter and I visited New Zealand. We didn’t board an airplane or book passage on a ship; we made the trip from the floor of our school room with a map and a sweet…
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…
I’ve been copying a lot of meaningful entries in my Commonplace Book lately. Many of them have come from the little but rich volume that Charlotte Mason gave all her teaching-school graduates, The Cloud of Witness compiled by Mrs. Lyttelton…
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…
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