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A friend of mine made a statement recently that stopped me in my tracks. She was explaining how in the past she hadn’t felt confident deviating from a recommended book list for her Charlotte Mason home school, and she said…
It seems like one of the hardest concepts to wrap your head around when you’re homeschooling with the Charlotte Mason Method is the concept of living ideas versus dry facts. Now, we give our children living ideas in several ways;…
Today we’re wrapping up our favorite history books series. We’ve covered five history time periods so far: Middle Ages and Renaissance, Early Modern, Modern Times, Ancient Egypt, and Ancient Greece. Today we’ll share our top living books for studying Ancient…
This time of year, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus and look toward the unknown future of the coming year, we can find comfort and confidence in the truth that Jesus is called Immanuel, God with us. Charlotte Mason…
In the last post, we looked at how books can help our children form relations with themselves, and we talked about those books as mirrors. Today, we want to expand on another aspect of that and how books can help…
The books that we give to our children help them form relations, those important relations that Charlotte Mason talked about so much, relating with God, relating with the universe around us, and relating with people, and that’s the aspect that…
One of the great things about doing Charlotte Mason nature study is that you don’t have to have a bunch of expensive equipment. Just grab your journal and go outside. But sometimes it can be helpful to expand our nature…
Are you looking for ways to create a more Charlotte Mason atmosphere in your home? Today we want to address a great question, and here to join me are Jenn Faas and Laura Pitney, my friends and coworkers. Sonya: Here’s…
Has it ever happened to you that you ask your child, “What did you see outside today?” and that child says, “A bird,” and you try to get more information, but the child just says, “Well, I think it was…
I really enjoy sharing my favorite living books with you. It’s like introducing delightful old friends that I know will help and support you along your homeschool journey. Today I will give you my top ten picks for studying Ancient…
Today we want to dive into a few questions that we’ve received from different home educating parents who have questions about Charlotte Mason’s method of dictation. If you’re not familiar with that wonderful method for teaching children spelling, then take…
On my bookshelf I have a copy of a book from the early 1900s that was used in Charlotte Mason’s schools. Many books like this contain an introduction full of helpful comments, but the introduction to this book is so…
A new artist has been added to the award-winning Picture Study Portfolios collection: Hans Holbein. Each Holbein picture in the portfolio has an interesting story behind it that will encourage your child to look closely and discover more about the…
Today, we want to tackle a fun topic: school supplies for a Charlotte Mason education. We already talked about what we consider back-to-school essentials for the mom, and those are more the attitudes that set the atmosphere of your home.…
Today we want to discuss a mind-set that could be robbing you of some of the richness involved in nature study the Charlotte Mason way. We want to talk about whether your mind-set is a checklist (“Yep, just do that.”)…
Some of you have asked about notebooking and whether that is a Charlotte Mason method. It’s a good question, and the answer all depends on what you’re thinking of when you think “notebooking.” For some people, notebooking is like scrapbooking.…
Imagine a scenario with me. You are teaching your child how to write. So, as Charlotte Mason detailed, you set before that child a model of the handwriting you want him to copy. Now let me ask you a question:…
This time of year, it seems like no matter which store you go into, there are lists and lists of back-to-school supplies: these are the things the students will need to get into the school days ahead. But what about…
Today I’d like to walk through two different ways to schedule a school day. Both are viable options. Use the one that fits best during this season of life. Over the years—or even during different terms of a single year—you…
In a Charlotte Mason education, it’s the books that shine. They are the teachers, and a lot depends on them. That’s why we are selective when it comes to the books we recommend in our curriculum at Simply Charlotte Mason.…
Many times we focus on the mom in a Charlotte Mason homeschool. We usually focus on the moms, because they’re often the ones doing the bulk of the teaching in a homeschool. But homeschooling affects both parents. And we thought…
In the spring and summer, many of us turn our thoughts to evaluating our home schools. How are things going? What changes might we want to make? Some states or provinces require that you write some kind of end-of-the-school-year assessment.…
Modern Times (about 1850 to present day) is a jam-packed era in history. So many things were happening all around the world; and thanks to improved technology, we have access to more details than any other time period. The thing…
Many of you know that Charlotte Mason was a big advocate of taking nature walks and doing nature study. She scheduled her students to get out into the fields one half-day every week, and Charlotte herself did a nature walk…
I think almost all of us who use the Charlotte Mason Method have a desire to see our children love to read. We know how much richness good books can add to our thoughts and our lives, and we want…
Today I want to share my top picks for living history books on modern times. These are the books that I recommend for grades 7–9, and in some cases, all the way through twelfth grade. I’ll explain more about that…
Today I’ve asked two friends to join me: Laura Pitney and Jenn Faas. We’re going to be talking about the unique challenges of home schooling, Charlotte Mason style with a large family. Sonya: So between all of us, we’ve got…
All right, I just have to say that I’m going to miss seeing you in person! I was really looking forward to getting together with you at homeschool conventions this spring. Now that many of them are canceled, we will…
I love sharing great book recommendations with other homeschoolers. Today I’ll be sharing my top picks for grades 4–6 who are studying modern times, about 1850 to the present. I already reviewed books that will give an overview of that…
I have four daughters, no sons. So sometimes I get asked whether a Charlotte Mason approach works with boys. The answer is “Yes, absolutely it does,” but don’t just take my word for it. Today we’re going to talk with…
Welcome to another installment of Your Questions Answered. As usual, my friend and co-worker, Laura Pitney is joining me. Here’s the question we’re going to discuss today: For elementary students, how do you balance all the subjects and still give…
There are a lot of books available on modern history (about 1850 to present day). The trick is to find the good ones, the ones that are appropriate for those younger grades mentally and emotionally. Some very difficult events occurred…
