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Reasons to not do CM
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I’ve been wondering for some time, are there any reasons why using a charlotte mason approach, or curriculum, would not be a good fit for a family? Is doing her methods haphazardly or hit and miss a hurt or is it ‘better than not at all’ ?
<p style=”text-align: left;”>Hi Becky, to answer the first part of your question, two reasons come to mind that might make CM methods a bad fit. These are things I have personally seen in my journey.</p>
1. Mom is not committed to educating herself in the methods and relies on publishers claiming “Charlotte Mason Style Curriculum” to do the work for her. I think if the philosophical foundation is not there we can be blown and tossed by any CM touting publisher.2. Your style is such that spending the time with your kids doesn’t appeal to you. My dearest friend adores her 5 children, is committed to homeschooling, and spends a ton of good quality time with them, but she really does not enjoy the CM method. She much prefers to allow her kids to be totally on their own as soon as they can read.
I don’t quite understand the second part of your question:
“Is doing her methods haphazardly or hit and miss a hurt or is it ‘better than not at all’ ?”
Are you feeling CM methods are not rigorous and thorough? I would say that is completely not accurate. A CM education produces children who are truly educated and prepared for a life of learning and loving. Children will not only “know,” they will care. Things are covered differently, but they are covered. Early years are gentle, but high school was pretty intense in a CM school. I would never say it is “better than not at all.” I would say it is simply better.
Blessings,
Crystal
Is doing her methods haphazardly or hit and miss a hurt or is it ‘better than not at all’ ?”
My plans were to do picture study, composer study, hymn study. I have not been getting it in weekly. We may do it for two consecutive weeks & then something happens that takes me away or I forget because of life. And by the way, I don’t have little kids. We have two children left that are school age, dd 14 & ds 16. My son isn’t interested in joining us for these subjects. I was counting on him reading books for his American lit credit, per CM, but he isn’t much for reading.
Is it better to do the picture study, composer study etc, occasionally as described above OR to drop it being I don’t seem to be getting it done every week.
That is hilarious Sheraz. I love it.
I have a 17 year old son who also does not enjoy reading. And he doubly hates narrating. He requested to be left out of our family time. I respected that request and allow him to do his schoolwork independently with textbooks. So I totally understand that aspect.
We have had years that we did not get to the composer/artist/poet regularly. I think it is still worth it. My 17 year old does not do the “study” with us, but he has no choice but to hear the classical music and hymns in the background, see different artist’s work in our dining room, and hear an occasional poem and possibly catch the poet’s name. I read literature aloud during lunch break so he is captive for that as well. My goal has never been to make sure they are experts in fine arts, but simply to expose them to beauty so they can appreciate it. Minimal exposure works just fine for this student. So I would say haphazard is worth it. A little exposure is better than none.
Agreeing with Crystal. Some is better than none. I don’t think there is any harm in being haphazard.
I think that a full CM education might not work for every student but that adding in some of the aspects of a CM education is always beneficial because it spreads the feast! For example, my middle son struggles with perfectionism and anxiety. A pure CM education, which we did for several years, was causing him a lot of anxiety during our lessons. He needs more instruction and repetition for LA specifically and the gentle introduction to writing just wasn’t enough for him. We switched to a more traditional LA that includes some aspects of CM for him and that is working much better! We still add in artist study, hymns, poetry, narrations, etc. and spread the feast that way for him. The beauty of homeschooling is creating an educational environment in which your child can thrive. While I LOVE CM and wish I had been educated using her methods, my son needed something a little different and that’s completely OK! I can adjust the curriculum to make sure he is getting everything he needs.
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