When my children were younger, we would always run out of time to do hands-on projects. By the time we got out all the materials and cleared a space for the activity, we had about ten minutes to work on it before we had to begin cleaning up. How frustrating! It became easier and easier […]
As we wrap up our series on nature study, I thought you might enjoy a highlights list of do’s and don’ts from Charlotte’s counsel to parents. Some of these tidbits of wisdom we have already covered in the series, but there are a few others that may be new to you. I’m not going to […]
During the past few weeks we have been sharing that there is more to nature study than just spending time outside. The well-rounded science education that Charlotte Mason described for her students included outdoor field work, living science books, natural object lessons, and special nature projects—all documented in each child’s personal nature notebook. Today we […]
Nature study is such a great way to help our children (and ourselves) develop a personal relation with God’s creation around us. Some children take to it quite naturally; others appreciate a little guidance and encouragement. That’s where object lessons can help. When Charlotte encouraged us to use object lessons to supplement nature study, she […]
I hope you have been enjoying our series on nature study. We have talked about why Charlotte Mason included nature study in the curriculum line-up, when we should do nature study, the big picture of what it looks like, and some specifics on creating a nature notebook. Today we’re going to discuss what we need […]
“Where do I find a nature notebook?” “What does it look like?” “How do we go about creating a nature notebook? Is there a template somewhere?” Questions like these cross my desk regularly. So let’s reveal the secret of the mysterious nature notebook. The secret is: it’s empty. That’s right. When you first get a […]
So far in this series we’ve talked about all the great benefits that we and our children can gain from doing nature study. We’ve also addressed Charlotte Mason’s encouragement to get outside one half-day per week, all year round. That all sounds great, but sometimes there is confusion about what to do once you step […]
Have you ever noticed that the question When? has many facets? For example, if a person asked, “When should we go to the park?,” the reply could be any number of things. The person asking might be a mama who has an older soccer player and a newborn in her household. She might be addressing […]
If you had asked me, “Why do nature study?” when my children were young, I would have replied, “To get them outside and burn up some of that energy” (that we all wish we could tap into now at our ages). If you had asked the same question when they got a little older, I […]
You have, no doubt, heard of the 3 Rs when it comes to education: reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic. (Why writing is considered an R, I don’t know, but let’s just keep going.) Those three Rs make it simple to summarize what the teacher is focused on giving the students. Well, we came up with 3 […]
I’ve had two constant companions over the 20 years that I’ve been homeschooling: my husband John and my pink six-volume set of The Original Home Schooling Series by Charlotte Mason. Several years ago we had the privilege of getting to know Dean and Karen Andreola. Such wonderful people! One of the first things we did […]
In studying to put together our new book, Hearing and Reading, Telling and Writing: A Charlotte Mason Language Arts Handbook, I was once again amazed at the way Charlotte could take a simple idea and pack it full of benefits. Take copywork, transcription, and dictation, for examples. Each of those methods is pretty simple to […]
Charlotte Mason thought that the Bible lesson should be the most important lesson of the day. We think so too. But as my children grew older, I found it harder to apply Charlotte’s wonderful principles of direct contact with Scripture and forming your own relation with it through forms of narration. You see, in the […]
When I got married, I knew how to cook exactly two dishes: canned soup over rice and macaroni and cheese from a box. (And once I forgot to drain the macaroni.) Needless to say, those first few meals required a lot of effort and thinking on my part. But the more I cooked, the easier […]
When I first heard about the Charlotte Mason Method, I envisioned my children and me sitting on the couch, reading wonderful books together and smiling. Well, we have done a lot of reading—and a lot of smiling—with the wonderful books. But over the years I have learned that there is much more to the Charlotte […]
Planning season is upon us, and many people are using our free SCM Curriculum Guide to help make those decisions easier. We’ve been getting some questions on how our History, Bible, and Geography modules work, so let’s take a moment to walk through that flexible part of our curriculum guide. I’m a firm believer in […]
In this final installment of our Way of the Will series, let’s look at how the habit of attention affects your child’s success in strengthening his will to do what is right even when he doesn’t feel like it. The habit of attention is necessary to help him distinguish between “I want” and “I will” […]
As we mentioned last week, we are very excited about a newly-completed project. Our Books & Things Seminar is now available on DVD! Charlotte noted how an education based on books and things can simplify our home schools. Using good living books and the things around us to educate our children is also a very […]
We’ve spent much of this series on high school talking about academics. And it’s easy to focus on the books, the grades, and the transcript, especially in the high school years. But our goal is not just to graduate our children. Our goal is to equip them to be godly young men and women who […]
High School. Maybe it’s the name. Maybe it’s the emphasis our culture seems to place on its importance. Maybe it’s the expectations that we carry from our own past experiences. Whatever the cause, it seems like many factors can contribute to a sense of intimidation when we think of teaching “high school.” Then, along with […]
A Project Week Idea 1 day ago
10 Do’s and Don’ts for Nature Study 1 week ago
5 Great Nature Projects (plus a few more) 2 weeks ago
Natural Object Lessons 3 weeks ago
Nature Study, Plus Living Books 4 weeks agoFree basic shipping (contiguous USA) on orders over $75!