Defending CM choices

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  • June 7, 2009 at 1:15 pm
    ChristyH
    Participant

    Do you ever get together with our homeschool moms and feel the need to defend your CM choices or even why you use her teaching or ideas? Lately I have been asked or questions with under currents of being look down on for these choices. For once I am at a loss. I feel a rightness when it comes to her ideas. Anyone have anything better then a gut feeling to defend with?

    June 7, 2009 at 2:13 pm
    caroline4kids
    Member

    I have to say that many who look down on CM really do not understand it. I think it is due to the fact that their are myriads of interpretations OF her work and many have deviated pretty heavily from the whole picture. For instance, many think CM means short lessons and waiting on grammar. That is just a tiny portion of the picture. They often forget daily narration, copywork/dictation, and constant exposure to excellent books.

    I also find that classical educator philosophies like The Well Trained Mind group have modified CM to the point that it only is CM in name. I spend a lot of time on that board and have attempted to use some of the CM-type curricula they produce, but have found it less than CM when put into practice.

    I think all of these different interpretations leave people with a preconceived idea about what you are doing with your children. I would just smile and direct them to the original CM series or info on this site. 🙂

    June 8, 2009 at 3:51 am
    missingtheshire
    Member

    Christy, I don’t think you should have to defend anything – you are happy in your choice, it is working for you and that is all there is really. Everyone has their own preconceived ideas about what homeschooling should be – but I personally think the bottom line is, that we must all do what God, our husbands and we think is right for our families. For example, if I could I would not let my daughters near a text book, we would do living books all the way – however when they hit the high school years and having spent some time in public school prior to that – they asked to use some textbooks along with the CM and it has worked well. My husband and I prayed about it and discussed it and agreed to allow them that option, so now we blend methods somewhat. I don’t worry anymore about whether it is proper, or whether people think I am harming them by doing CM or doing textbooks – I keep on doing what I think and what we as a family feel led to do. In my very early years of homeschooling I used to feel very guilty when people questioned what I was doing, then I realised, it is like a lot of other things in life – people most often tend to think their way is the only way – we may be guilty of it ourselves from time to time – truth is, with prayer and thought, we all do what is best for us at any given time and if it works for our children then there is nothing to worry about. Charlotte Mason was a wonderful educator and her methods really do work – example, we read The Tempest last year, and to this day my daughters can narrate it beautifully and wrote a wonderful paper on it – so don’t worry. Smile politely and do what is right for your family, let others worry about themselves. No-one is necessarily right or wrong – and I wish the homeschooling community could somehow be a bit more supportive and less critical of each others methods, after all we are all after the same thing – well educated children.

    Keep your head up and don’t let other people worry you – your children are your only concern, if it is working, then don’t let anyone tell you differently – you know your children best. Blessings, Linda

    June 8, 2009 at 10:01 am
    the9clarks
    Participant

    “I have to say that many who look down on CM really do not understand it.”

    Ditto. I am so confident in the way we’re schooling, I could care less what other people think. Those who public school look down on me for wanting to homeschool thru high school, but they are dead wrong in their assumptions. Statistics prove that. I don’t feel the need to tell them that or defend my choices. I feel the same about dear Miss Charlotte Mason. People don’t get it and might even think I’m raising idiots. Who cares? 😀

    (I don’t have time to explain CM to every questioner, so I don’t let it get to me.)

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