Interest Led Charlotte Mason?

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  • amandajhilburn
    Participant

    Do any of you allow an interest-led structure in your children’s studies using Charlotte Mason-ish tools and ideas?

    Kayla
    Participant

    I think that once the school day is done, part of having afternoons free is to let them explore on their own.

    nebby
    Participant

    We certainly consider interests. For example, my 2nd one is a born artist so she will spend more time on art and art history. My oldest is a math/science guy so he is zooming ahead in math and does things like computer programming. But I also think it is key to CM that we don’t completely let them go their own way. Unlike in unschooling, CM’s philosophy says that kids will not always naturally choose what is best for them. If, for instance, a child wanted to never have to do math, we wouldn’t allow that. CM also has some things to say about not breeding little eccentrics. Well-rounded people are a good thing thus we insist upon a broad education, a varied feast if you will.

    Nebby

    http://www.lettersfromnebby.wordpress.com

    Wings2fly
    Participant

    Good answers.  We are more structured and planned.  But I do take my children’s interests and talents in account when planning.  We also have a few hours each day for free time to pursue their own interests.  I think we also need to expose them to new things that may not have interested them before because of the fact they are new.  I try to not plan too much detail for the whole year at once because things can change within the year.  So I usually plan details like book titles and lesson days one term at a time.  From what I have read on the forum, I think Claire does more interest led learning.  In my mind, these are rabbit trails, which can be a good thing, but can also get us off track since we all do have only 24 hours in one day.  But these interests can be noted during school time and then pursued further in afternoon free time.  It is nice to see you on here, Amanda.

    Melanie32
    Participant

    I think it can be worked into the curriculum but have found it best to give my child a liberal arts education and allow plenty of free time for personal interests.

    When my daughter was younger we tried some interest-led learning. It was fun at times, frustrating at others. If I had to do it again, I would stick to a CM education and take breaks here and there for interest led learning. I would do that for elementary school and get more strict during the middle school years.

    jmac17
    Participant

    We are doing some interest-led learning.  I have been studying the TJED principles, including the idea of ‘structure time, not content’.  I’m not ready to give them total freedom in an ‘unschooling’ sense, but I think it’s true that we all learn better when we are interested and have some control over what we are learning.  I do want to make sure that I ‘spread the feast’ as CM suggests, so I am trying to find a balance between the books and activities that I choose and letting them have freedom to explore as well.  This is how we have it balanced right now.

    First, I choose our read aloud books, making sure to have good living books in history, science, literature, geography, math, and religion.  They narrate these and we try to have a ‘grand conversation’ about each.  I read from about 2-3 books each day, depending on chapter length.

    Then, for silent reading the kids are allowed to choose their own books. I took an idea from “The Book Whisperer” by Donalyn Miller.  My kids (who can read – DD9 and DS7) each have a graph where they can record books read in different genres or topic areas.  I’ve challenged each to read a certain number of books by the end of the year, including at least 2 for each genre/topic.  They also do some type of reading response activity each week.  That can be a written narration, a report (written or oral) about a non-fiction topic, acting out a story, comparing two different books or characters, giving a book review, or any other idea they come up with.

    We’ve been doing this for a few months, and it’s working well right now.  We’ll adjust as we go along.

    Joanne

     

    retrofam
    Participant

    I have used interest led for elementary science,  off and on.

    I have two children(of my quiver) who do better if I offer more choices within a subject area. One naturally engages in science and varies his interests, so I record what he does. Junior High and beyond will be structured.

    My kindy dd doesn’t mind completing each subject area per day, but she balks if I choose the activity or book for certain subjects.  I have lists of choices for these subject areas, such as reading and math. She chooses daily from the list. Some of the choices are regular curriculum, some games,  etc.

    Her ability to concentrate and learn has increased tenfold since I implemented the choices lists.

    She has other subjects we do together as a family, such as Bible,  history,  and read alouds.

    I am guessing that as she grows her need for games and choices will decrease.  For now, I am pleased that she enjoys school this way, and it brings peace to our home.

     

     

    2Corin57
    Participant

    The short answer is yes. I actually just wrote about this somewhat this morning if you want to read about it:

    https://mycrazyeclecticlife.wordpress.com/2015/04/24/our-life-curriculum/

    At the end of the day, we are a mix of interest-led, Charlotte Mason.

    amandajhilburn
    Participant

    Thank you all for these replies. We are in the midst of trying to find our happy path. I have been slowly allowing the kids to follow interests in some areas, and it has really changed their attitude towards school work! We still require things like: math, Bible study, reading, etc.

    We had become so unhappy with school, and I do not want to ruin the relationships that we have over “just finishing that math lesson today” type of moments.

    I am really trying to mesh  ideas together that I am experiencing with my children and reading about in many places. And I’m trying to figure out how to continue like this with 9th grade on the horizon for my oldest child.

    I do know this…Every time I experience something AMAZING in our changes or experiments with homeschooling, CM almost always had something to say about that experience. She already knew it. LOL!

    “Self-education is the only possible education; the rest is mere veneer laid on the surface of a child’s nature.”
    Charlotte M. Mason

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