Name: Teach Them Diligently (Branson)
Start: 2025-05-15T00:00:00-05:00
End: 2025-05-17T23:59:59-05:00
Location: Branson, MO

This topic has 9 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 6 months ago by Jessica.

Viewing 10 posts - 1 through 10 (of 10 total)

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September 27, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Jessica
Participant
I have been gleaning wisdom from this forum for over a year now and have finally decided to say hello. 🙂 My daughters are ages 3 and 21 months, and when I first stumbled upon the Charlotte Mason method and this website during homeschool research about a year ago, I had a very big, “Aha!” moment. However, my brain keeps trying to fight my inclination to raise my girls with a living education and I don’t know how to follow my heart.

Perhaps it is just the insecurity of being so new to homeschooling I haven’t “officially” begun yet. Maybe it is the fact that using something very structured and easy to explain, such as Memoria Press, would make me feel more comfortable when showing family and friends “what we do all day.” I can’t quite articulate it, but I’m sure others who have chosen CM have been here before. It’s choosing the road less travelled. I look at curriculum in a box and think it would validate what I teach, but then there is always something that doesn’t look quite right. My husband and I heard Sonya speak twice in Greenville this past March, and I was delighted that my sweet husband said he was totally on board with CM. He loved practicing artist study in Sonya’s workshop and we tried narration with each other, and he could see the benefits and was very excited about it.

I have all of the green lights…so why can’t I just take that leap? I even ordered many of the read-aloud selections from the Early Years guide, and my girls are in love with Carl and McDuff books. I think I have been CM my whole life and just never knew it. 🙂 I grew up playing outdoors for hours, making up imaginary games, writing and illustrating stories, and then becoming an English teacher with an art history minor. I love everything about this method and way of living. I just fear planning my own curriculum, even with the extremely detailed help of the SCM guide, which I am tempted to follow almost in its entirety.

Nudge me in the right direction, please! Feel free to share why this method works, how it has blessed your lives, etc. For those of you who use SCM exclusively (or pretty closely) I would love to hear from you, too!

Blessings,

Jessica
September 27, 2012 at 6:48 pm
Heather
Participant
Hi Jessica! I think we have all probably been where you are at some point in our homeschooling careers. I wandered away at the beginning of this year in the direction of some more text type science. My kids enjoyed it at first because it was easy. Read this, now answer these questions…but then I began to get some rather distant looks and a few quiet groans when it was science time. Realizing that I had never had these issues when we were using living books, or even when we were using Apologia and narrating for that matter, I put the science text on the shelf and opened up a Jean Craighead George book that had been on the shelf awhile just begging to be read. It was called The Moon of the Deer.
I few days later I overheard my very expressive and excited 6 year old telling a lady at church about a spike deer, ten point buck and the hurricane that sucked all of the water out of the canal! The lady came over to me and said, “Wow! All I did was ask her how school was going and she couldn’t stop talking about it. I guess that means things are going well!”
That’s how I knew we were back!
September 27, 2012 at 7:21 pm
suzukimom
Participant
Sometimes you just have to take that leap of faith…..

Jump on in, the water is fine!
September 27, 2012 at 8:16 pm
bethanna
Participant
As you said, I think I’ve been CM my whole life too. However, my public school experience as a student was certainly not. As a teacher in public schools, I used living books, poetry, art, music, and a more “gentle” approach to learning with my students without knowing anything about CM or her principles. So when I was pregnant with our first child and researching homeschooling, I also had that “ah-ha!” moment you mentioned. So we have used many CM aspects along the way with dd7, ds(5 next week), ds2.5, and dd (due Jan.). Yet our homeschool journey is still a learning process for me. And it is difficult to explain to others – unless they are truly interested. I don’t know any other CM families in this area although there are lots of homeschooling families. Trust your heart! CM methods are wonderful and I think that pulling “curriculum” together is exciting. I feel like I can choose the best of the best for each child as well as for our family as a whole. And those choices are not always expensive options, as many boxed curriculum sets are. One thing that I appreciate more and more about this CM homeschool path is that it is so much more than “doing school” from 8 to 3. It is a beautiful way of life. Hope my rambling thoughts helped a little. Welcome to SCM! It’s a great place with wonderful people!
September 28, 2012 at 11:37 am
simple home
Member
You are so blessed to have begun CM so early. Your children will benefit greatly. I started late with my oldest, and that is my biggest regret in my homeschool experience. But he has progressed and doing fine. And you should see my younger kids who have been taught the CM way! It’s amazing!
So Suzukimom is right, come on in, the water is fine! 🙂
September 28, 2012 at 1:44 pm
my3boys
Participant
Yes, consider yourself blessed to have found CM so early. Like simple home, one of my ds started out this method/way of life a bit late, and I completely regret that. He seems to be on board with what we do/how we do it so all is well, but I feel the regrets daily.
The other day I was at the park with my dc and had a nice conversation with a gentleman whose son is in the same sport as my middle boy. He and his wife have one child (adopted, I believe). They are both educators of some sort, she is a principal at a very special charter, rated #1 in our state or something like that. Well he knows we homeschool and has always supported and encouraged us. He seems to see a “difference” in our oldest boy. Anyway, he has always made comments about how he feels his son should be homeschooled, etc., so we got to talking (at the park) about what we do/how we do it and I explaine the CM method as best I could. He was impressed. He agreed with all of what I explained and told me that our dc are getting a well-rounded education and would not be getting “poetry/shakespeare/art appreciation, etc.” even at the school his son is in. Which only accept 60 kids and has hundreds apply, btw.
Now, I don’t usually need confirmation, affirmation, or whatever, but I do feel blessed with encouragement when I do. That was huge for me (I’ve had other experiences like this but it seems the Good Lord dishes them out at the exact moment I need it or didn’t realize I needed it!).
And, I love the picking/choosing of curriculum..it’s really not that hard once you get used to it. Plus, you do eventually come to a place that makes you wonder why you would ever have others choose these resources for you. It’s so individual and that is so important.
HTH
September 28, 2012 at 4:37 pm
Jessica
Participant
Thank you so much for the encouragement, ladies! I think indecisiveness is one of my biggest flaws. When you combine it with perfectionism, you just end up on eternal spin cycle. With the CM method, I have the freedom to choose EVERY living book we read, both aloud or as readers and for every subject. That completely overwhelms me. I have an English literature/creative writing/art background and I was a voracious reader growing up. I don’t know how to filter. I can pretty easily distinguish what is twaddle now (I think I always could!), but I just don’t know how to not own every wonderful book out there. I love SCM’s list. I like Memoria Press’s read-alouds because they mix in some new classics. If you go to http://www.amblesideocala.com, they have an Amazon storefront available with (you guessed it) even more books that the Ambleside Schools recommend. I want to read everything. 🙂
I guess my draw toward something packaged was having the decision made for me, but I certainly don’t want to waste energy tweaking. I also worry about not having “commentary,” even though that can be dangerous, especially with religious curricula (getting too much heavy influence we may not agree with). For instance, if I’m reading all of these new books, it might be nice to have notes or a study guide to draw out things we might not have noticed. This, again, stems from insecurity. I know CM doesn’t overanalyze and these things will come naturally if I just let them.
I must confess at the Greenville convention, we looked at a lot of curricula but I got the most excited at SCM’s simple booth. Sonya’s husband smiled and told us we were getting ready to start an incredible, unforgettable adventure and journey with our daughters. I’ll never forget that and maybe that’s what I should tell people when they look at me like I’m crazy for desiring this journey. 🙂
September 28, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Tia
Participant
Have you seen Sonya’s resource, Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education? It walked me through, step by step, how to do it. I recommend it to everyone I see. lol It was very helpful in breaking down the subjects, dividing it all out, etc. I think you will be less overwhelmed if you invest in this resource.
I have found commentaries and the like to be forced and useless. As you watch your child thrive and grow, a little at a time, and as conversations natually develop out of your little lessons, you will feel more confident. I have a 6 year old who reads everything she can about Harriet Tubman right now. She has developed her own relationship with a noble historical character. A commentary can’t do that.
September 28, 2012 at 6:30 pm
simple home
Member
Jessica, you said above, “For instance, if I’m reading all of these new books, it might be nice to have notes or a study guide to draw out things we might not have noticed”. Just so you know, SCM history modules point out things to discuss or take note of along the way. It’s such a help for me when I’m going along my busy week and scrambling to get things done. I never have to check boxes (which is stressful!) but just simply read along as we go. No pressure and the material is very user-friendly. If there are extra books that I personally picked out, I make a note of those in the guide before the year begins.
September 29, 2012 at 5:08 pm
Jessica
Participant
@Tia, I definitely want Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education. I’ve had my eye on it for a long time now (as well as pretty much everything else SCM does!) and it seems not one person has given it anything but a glowing recommendation. By the way, I love your blog, Skipping Sideways! I have read it in the past and it is so nice to see there are other “kindred spirits” out there as we embark on this huge endeavor.
@simple home, thank you for that reminder! When I initially stumbled upon SCM’s website, I kept searching it trying to find their “boxed curriculum” or day-by-day lesson plan. Then I realized, after really combing through and understanding what it’s all about, that the majority of their resources DO have lesson plans, a schedule, or so much help in guiding you that you can’t really complain about not having help! It’s amazing. I am getting really excited about the freedom of choosing our own path, and I can’t help but be inspired the more I read on this forum. It is proof that the method works, that their are happy mamas and children living education and not just digesting it, and that is pretty much all I needed to hear. 🙂