Yoo Hoo, Sonya! Lots of Questions!!

Great questions, Cindy. As you are fully aware, every family is different; but I’ll be happy to share what has worked for us 🙂

I am wondering how you do Scripture memory, History, Bible PLUS one or more of the following: Hymn Study, Lit, Poetry, Picture study, Music study, Drawing, Nature Study, and Geography. How does this work out logistically?

We do Family Work scattered throughout the day, usually. You could do it all at once, but it works better for us to do Scripture Memory and a History read-aloud right after breakfast, then do Bible and one of the others later in the day. We rotate the other subjects, doing them once a week. So on Monday we might do Bible and Picture Study in that time slot; Tuesday, Bible and Geography; Wednesday, just do Nature Study; etc. We don’t try to do every subject every day. Literature we like to read at snack time in the middle of the afternoon, usually every day because we enjoy it so much.

Then I noticed that the older ones do extra history, etc. What are you doing that is history together as a family versus what they are doing independently?

We read a biography all together as a family or a book about the time period that requires some editing on my part. Then the older children have other books they’re reading independently about the same time period. For example, right now we’re in the early 1900s. I was reading at breakfast time a book about the Titanic. I didn’t want to read all of every chapter, so that was one that I chose to do as a read-aloud. Then the older children are reading age-appropriate books about Alexander Graham Bell right now. I think my oldest is finishing up Booker T. Washington’s autobiography too. In December we won’t be doing a Family biography because of a change in my schedule, but they will be reading books about Teddy Roosevelt. Actually, come to think of it, in January I’ll be swapping out the Family breakfast read-aloud time for a geography book.

How do you mesh flexibility with requirements for high school, and for the littler ones, just the desire, to get through a certain amount of content per year?

That’s a tough one, since it varies so much from area to area. I mainly aim for more independent work as the child gets older, so that by the time she’s in high school she’s able to study the required courses on her own while still enjoying our Family work times that don’t take up a whole lot of extra time. As far as the littler ones, you’re right, there’s a balance between being flexible and making progress through the content. In my mind, whenever I’m faced with the decision of take-more-time vs. keep-moving, I tend to gravitate toward the side of cutting content. My reasoning is that there will always be things that my children won’t know (just as there are so many things I don’t know), but if I can cultivate and protect their love for learning (balanced with some discipline and hard work, mind you) they will be able to learn about those things at any time in their lives. Whereas, if I push so hard that I squelch their natural curiosity and desire to learn, they won’t be inclined to learn anything on their own after they “do their time.” Does that make sense?

How do you keep from getting bogged down as life continues to happen and interruptions are inevitable with small children?

Margin. Simplify. Don’t try to do every subject every day. Build margin into your schedule so you don’t go through the day feeling perpetually behind. Focus on some subjects for a month and enjoy them. Then focus on other subjects for a month. Month time periods may not work best for your situation, but you get the idea. Divide and conquer. And of course, habits can make it all run more smoothly, but even those must be built one at a time.

how do you allow for indepth narrations on the part of the child and keep moving so as to not get bogged down (there’s that word again!), or not hold up everyone that is joining in with that particular lesson?

One thing that helped me immensely was to do three weeks of bookwork, then one project week — all year round. That one project week can be spent doing those more in-depth narrations projects, the older students would have a flex week to catch up on requirements possibly, and everyone would benefit from a little change of pace. Of course, some “project” weeks were set aside to do MY list of projects around the house, but even those counted for schoolwork in the Life Skills and Handicrafts section (if not more). For example, one week we set aside to tear down the old wallpaper in one bedroom, then paint and put up a new border. Since the room belonged to two older girls, I had them calculate how much paint we would need and how much wallpaper and how much wallpaper paste and what our budget was . . . Just an idea.

How have you reconciled the shorter lesson time with the fact that Charlotte Mason’s schools met for six days, not five?

I tend to focus mostly on the principle behind the short lessons — cultivating attention and all that it entails — rather than the timetable itself. Some subjects need only five or ten minutes (like copywork, Scripture memory, or some picture studies). Others might take longer on some days, depending on the length of the section we’re reading or the detail in the narration the child gives. That’s OK. I’m a big believer in making the schedule and the curriculum my servant, not my master! I also think that the concept of consistent “touches” (not necessarily long drawn-out ones) help the child absorb and assimilate the information. So we may not spend X hours a week on math, but they are making steady progress and haven’t developed a hatred of it. To me, that’s a measure of success.

I feel like I rambled a bit, Cindy. I hope you can hear my heart through all these words. You are doing a tremendous work, dear, and I want to encourage you in it! Sometimes it helps me to go back to the foundational basics and ask myself what is most important to the Lord. For example, what does His Word say a godly man should know about math? Yes, a godly man can learn much more than the Word mentions, but what are God’s priorities first? And why does He want His children to know history; what is most important in that study? Those little tidbits can help calm my anxious thoughts and keep my perspective amid the day to day to day to day happenings.

So be encouraged, Cindy, as you disciple those precious little (and growing!) ones God has given you. He is working with you and will give you insight each step of the way. The hard part is walking by faith one step at a time.

Hey, I like y’all’s ramblings as well! 🙂 One thing that really freed me is realizing that I can’t teach my dc everything. But if I can teach them to love learning and the basics, they can learn anything. Someone I heard once said we all leave gaps; we just choose what gaps to leave. For example, home arts are really important to us as is music. My oldest 7 are girls, and they all are sewing, knitting, crocheting, cross-stitching etc. And they all play a string instrument (some more than one!). But we don’t care as much about algebra, trig and geometry (unless it’s quilting! 😉 ) I am grateful to live in a hs friendly state, and I can see I would be a bit stressed trying to make sure my paper trail looked good enough to ensure my ability to continue hsing. We tend to do way more than required, though. I am going through a process of taking a deep breath and seeking God on how to get us going again (which is why I posted “getting re-started”!) I love this forum–I’ve learned a lot already, and sometimes, as you’ve said, Cindy, we’re too close to the forest to see the trees! So praise God for these dear sisters willing to help us refocus our “sight”!

Okay, now *I’m* rambling! ::blush::

Trisch