When I was a girl, I took piano lessons. I would practice diligently during the school year, but my teacher always gave her students the summer off. So I got used to not practicing during the summer months. Later, in high school, I switched to a different teacher, and she had a completely different mind-set. […]
One of the biggest challenges a homeschool mom faces is trying to get schoolwork done with preschoolers in the mix. My friends Jenn Faas and Laura Pitney are here to help me discuss this today. Sonya: Between all of us, we’ve had 13 preschool kids. And you have one currently and a baby, right, […]
Charlotte Mason believed that music is a necessary part of education. And not just haphazard music; she encouraged us to “Let the young people hear good music as often as possible, and that under instruction” (Formation of Character, p. 235). Now, maybe you’re not a musician and aren’t quite sure how to make that happen. […]
Today I’m sharing some of my absolute favorite picture books for 3 to 5 year olds. These are picture books that you will want to read to your child again and again. These are books that, if your preschooler grabs one off the shelf again (!) and brings it to you to read again (!), […]
Do a quick search on Amazon for picture books, and you are suddenly faced with more than 60,000 titles. Think of it: 60,000 picture books to choose from. That’s a lot of books! In fact, if you could stack all of those picture books one on top of the other, the stack would reach to […]
I talk to mamas all over the country who are feeling pressure with their preschoolers. They’re being pressured to push academics, to focus on reading and writing and math facts with their three-, four-, and five-year-olds. Perhaps you’re the mother of a young child and you have felt that pressure. Let me reassure you that […]
The biggest job that a preschool child has is to explore his surroundings and make sense of the world around him. As he uses his five senses, he’s forming crucial connections in his brain. And those connections will help him be prepared for later challenges like formal school work. But pushing the school work first […]
Young children spend the first five or six years of their lives busily making sense out of life around them. Their brains are on overdrive: observing, categorizing, comparing, discriminating, problem solving, experimenting, testing, assimilating. For example, let’s say you hand your child a spherical object and tell him that it is a ball. Over the […]
We’ve been sharing our favorite books for studying the Middle Ages and Renaissance, telling a little about each title and breaking it down by age range. So far we’ve covered grades 1–3, grades 4–6, grades 7–9, and grades 10–12. What’s left? Well, today I want to give you some titles that are great for all […]
I just spent a weekend at a conference with some wonderful homeschooling mamas: some who are new to homeschooling and some who are veterans. As I was chatting with one mama who is just in the midst of her first year, she told me something that made me pause and ponder. This mama explained that […]
This is part 2 of a series talking about exams in a Charlotte Mason home school. Last time we talked about what those exams should sound like—what kinds of questions we should use. If you haven’t read that post yet, I encourage you to do that first. This post is all about what exams should […]
I’m not sure where this notion got started, but somehow there’s an idea floating around that Charlotte Mason “didn’t do tests.” Let’s set the record straight: Charlotte Mason gave exams at the end of every twelve-week term. In fact, she devoted an entire week to those exams three times a year. And there are many […]
I’ve been sharing some of my top picks for Middle Ages and Renaissance books for different age groups. Today I want to talk about my favorite books for grades 10 through 12. Now, remember, these are not the typical high school textbooks that you probably used during your own school years. These are living books—books […]
As the mother of a special needs child, I appreciate those who are able to look past the differences and see the similarities. Yes, some children have special needs, but all children have many needs that are the same no matter their skill levels. Though a child may seem to withdraw into her own little […]
My friend and co-worker, Laura Pitney, is joining me again today. We want to discuss another great question that you have asked: “What about little boys and girls who can’t or won’t sit still? What do you do then?” We hope you enjoy our discussion and receive some ideas that might be helpful. Sonya: […]
We all want to instill good habits in our children, from the time they are toddlers through the time they move out to start their own households. We often think of habit training as something we do on the side. We work on kindness alongside all of the activities of the day. We work on […]
There are so many great books set in the Middle Ages and Renaissance! I’ve been sharing some of my favorites for the different age groups, and today I want to share my top picks for grades 7 through 9. These are living books—books that will make the time period come alive for your student. As […]
I’ve been working on an interesting project the last few weeks. It all started when I was looking at some old pamphlets and programmes in the Charlotte Mason digital archives (which is a fabulous resource, by the way). The programmes detail the work that students were to do each term and the books that they […]
My friend and co-worker Laura Pitney joins me again as we answer another of your questions. This time, we’re talking about how to have a smooth morning of lessons. Here’s the question that we want to discuss today: I would love to see some ideas of how to practically get lessons done in the morning, […]
When you drive a long distance, it’s reassuring to have signs along the route that tell you when to turn or that your exit is coming up. Well, the same holds true when you’re teaching your child to read. There are signposts along that road. Let’s talk through the five steps involved in teaching your […]
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