Needing help

Hi Lisa!   I noticed your plea for help, on this message and another.

It can be a bit hard to tell you how to get going without a bit more info, but I do have a few suggestions to get you started.  (Also, are you completing whatever you were doing this year and starting next year?  or looking for something right now?)

Overall, I would recommend getting the “Planning your child’s Charlotte Mason Education” (or something like that) that you can buy on this site.  I bought the ebook version and read it right away, and it was great for helping me get a plan.  I also liked the Charlotte Mason book by Karen Andereola (sp?) for getting a good idea on how to teach each subject area.  However, you can find that type of information on this site, and others, including some blogs. 

If you didn’t find the curriculum guide on this site, have a look at it!  It gives great ideas on what to do and get started.  If you want something more laid out for you, you can check out Ambleside Online too.  There is another site for Catholic people doing Charlotte Mason, but I don’t remember what it is called.  Another site I like with everything laid out is http://www.milestonesacademy.com    I take the information from these sites and my own thoughts to make my own plan.   Oh, Ambleside Online site has links to Charlotte Mason’s books (free online), so those can be good to read as you go along too.

On the other post, you said you needed something for math.  Most Charlotte Mason websites advise you to pick your math program on your own (some have specific suggestions.)   I personally like the Mathemeatics Enhancement Programme (MEP).  (Search for MEP Math on google, and it will likely be the first site…. it is put out by CIMT).  I think it goes well with Charlotte Mason ideas as you can do it in short lessons.  The lessons are designed to be 45 minutes (at least for year 1, which I’m using) in a classroom – but done one on one it takes about 20-30minutes.  But each lesson is broken down into about 5 to 7 activities, which offer a variety.  There is one “worksheet” type page per lesson in Year 1 – but doesn’t weigh down the student with a lot of repetition.  Manipulatives are encouraged in the early years, and problems are approached in a variety of ways.  For instance, in Year 1 we are working with Addition and Subtraction, and problems will include stuff like   ?+3=8.  There are puzzles to figure out, and occasionally an advanced concept is thrown in to see what the student will do.  (there was one question of 1-3=? early in year 1.)    My kids love it, and clammor for math.  I’ve even started my 4 year old on their Kindergarten level as my 4yo was always watching the 6yo’s math lesson and asking to do math.  Oh – did I mention that it is free except for your paper and ink???

I hope this helps a bit.  There is a LOT of info out there, but it can get overwhelming.  I recommend getting the Planning guide from here, looking at the suggested curriculum ideas on this site, and have a quick look at the other sites I mentioned too.  Oh, I think this site has somewhere info on transitioning to Charlotte Mason from working with other types of programs too.    Breathe, relax, and pick a good book to start them on!

Hi Lisa,

We are a Catholic family as well.  I use many of the wonderful suggestions off of here, and I use many suggestions from this Catholic Charlotte Mason site http://materamabilis.org/ma/  They have lists of curriculum suggestions per level.  I feel like Simply Charlotte Mason is easier for me to use over various age levels.  Mater Amabillis is a bit too much for me, BUT I love the literature and religion books listed; and so I use a lot of those suggestions to add to what I use from here.

Hope that helps.  There is a yahoo group for the Mater Amabillis group as well.  Mater Amabillis means Mother most Amiable in Latin.

Bridget

Welcome Lisa!  Nice to have you here.  We love SCM and the curriculmn guide is a must.  Also for the Catholic site thanks I have been doing this for 3 years and didn’t even know it was there.

Take it slowly.. add one thing at a time.  Do simple things and then a more challenging thing.  Alternating.. that’s what worked for us.  Just wanted to welcome you.  Misty