I'm elbow-deep in planning next year, so I wanted to give you a walk-through of how I plan a Charlotte Mason homeschool year. Check it out!
As busy moms, learning a new homeschool teaching method can get downright frustrating and stressful! Homeschooling alone is difficult, but learning a new co(...)
A Charlotte Mason Handicrafts Lesson Before we begin A Charlotte Mason Handicrafts Lesson … First, I explain why I’m focusing subject by subject. Also, I include Charlotte Mason quotes because I find her original lectures on education to be awe inspiring and helpful. Next, please keep reading to see the break down of implementing lessons, the schedule, […]
Our simple homeschool routine for pre-k to 4th grade. It's a rhythm, not a schedule! We follow a Charlotte Mason method.
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Homeschool mother and blogger Larissa of Living in Color blog shares a video tour of her Charlotte Mason notebooks and notebooking.
Homeschooling using the Charlotte Mason method is so much more than "homeschooling". It's a lifestyle! In our home, we start with essentials of: Nutrition, Cleanliness, and A Well-fed heart. Nutrition: While we all know nutrition is important, it is extremely important on homeschool days, as you are working on the habit of attention. Cleanliness: We
Unit studies Charlotte Mason might like are literature based, short & avoid weak associations. Children make their own connections.
Share Wildflower Ramblings!I am looking forward to sharing our First Grade Charlotte Mason Inspired Schedule. Here we are, in our Year 1 (Form 1B) of homeschooling. I have never felt more grounded or more sure that I am doing what is right for my son and his education. Ever since I began listening to the...
This post is all about the mother’s notebooks that I keep as part of our Charlotte Mason homeschool & my mother culture.
I recently did an article called Productive Afternoons, and in it I mentioned that in Charlotte Mason's schools formal lessons were done by lunch. Well, we
Living books, narration, notebooking, nature walks, discussion, reading aloud to your kids... incorporate these Charlotte Mason ideals into your science!
Our reading by sight lessons are inspired by Charlotte Mason, but I am not claiming that this is the only way to achieve teaching reading, nor is this the “perfect” Charlotte Mason way (there’s no such thing, friend). However, after just a few weeks of using this method, I can confidently say my child has been introduced to many new words, embraces reading challenging words, and actually enjoys our lessons again!
To create a Charlotte Mason Schedule can feel daunting to today's modern family. There are so many wonderful subjects to fit in!
Ever wonder if you are doing enough in your home school? Sonya has some encouragement for you.
Is Charlotte Mason homeschooling only for Christians? Can it be adapted for secular education? What did Charlotte Mason say about this?
Do you sometimes ask questions about a reading passage, and your kids just return a deer-in-headlights stare? Please tell me I am not the only one. That is what I get sometimes now, but when my son was little it was different. I would try to ask him about what I just had read him, and his answer was almost always… plainly… Jesus. It was adorable but I was like, “What else honey?”
“Narrating is an art, like poetry-making or painting, because it is there, in every child’s mind, waiting to be discovered…” -Charlotte Mason “He must generalize, classify, infer, judge, visualize, discriminate, labor in one way or another, with that capable mind of his, until the substance of his
Charlotte Mason Nature Study: Simple Ideas for Wildflowers includes ideas for how to help your child engage in nature and study wildflowers.
Do you want to add some aspects of a Charlotte Mason education into your homeschool? Here is a short overview that includes practical ideas!
This is a FREE Updated Charlotte Mason Planner. This year it includes two files, one with all the subjects included and one you can fill in.
Parents who enjoy the Charlotte Mason education style of homeschooling will love this language arts program. I wonder how different my own homeschool would look had I introduce to this program sooner.
Are you familiar with Charlotte Mason’s principles of habits and character? What do you think of when you hear the terms habit training and character development? I have to admit that I tended to feel negatively toward those terms because it seems they’d been used as a weapon against children. Something to “tame” them or...
A Charlotte Mason Poetry Lesson Before we begin A Charlotte Mason Poetry Lesson … First, I explain why I’m focusing subject by subject. Also, I include Charlotte Mason quotes because I find her original lectures on education to be SO inspiring and helpful. Next, please keep reading to see the break down of implementing lessons, the schedule, […]
Are you looking to bring the beauty of nature into your school routine? Check out our free nature book list! This list contains over 100 beautiful nature books that make celebrating the changing seasons special. Get The Book List These books correspond with our Nourishing Nature Kindergarten...
The Charlotte Mason concept of masterly inactivity is sometimes confused with unschooling. Unschooling, in which mothers have no guiding curriculum for their child, is very different than Charlotte Mason's philosophy. But, since mothers are to practice the art of letting their children learn without outright telling them what to learn, these two philosophies might seem
I posted on our Facebook page that I'm going to start creating some videos answering questions that are important to readers, and the question of how to manage several young children came up repeatedly. I'll keep working on answers to these questions, but an important key to managing multiple age
Beautiful drawings and paintings are a hallmark of a Charlotte Mason education. But what if you're not an artist? You can still teach your child to draw with Charlotte Mason drawing lessons.
A key part of the Charlotte Mason method is narration. It's a great evaluation tool that can be done in many ways. Here is a list of creative suggestions.
Charlotte Mason classical homeschool curriculum ideas for middle school and high school, with a focus on living books!
A Review of the Charlotte Mason Simple Spanish Curriculum: a Charlotte Mason Inspired Foreign Language Program for children aged 0-8 Years.
PDF files formatted for 8x10 inch printing of each watercolor painting. All three prints of my original paintings of Charlotte Mason's quotes about education and life are included in this listing. These images would make a great addition to any homeschool or traditional school room. They make lovely notebook or binder covers for your children. Note that these are for personal use only. ***Digital Downloads are for personal use for one household only. Do not distribute these files. Do not use these images on any physical or digital item for sale or distribution. I retain the copyright to each of these images.*** Charlotte Mason's educational philosophy inspires me! I created these prints of her quotes on education to hang up in the school area of my house and remind me of these important ideas. I hope you will be inspired by Ms. Mason's words as well! Student Motto: I am, I can, I ought, I will Teacher/Parent Motto: Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life About time spent outdoors: Never be within doors when you can rightly be without Would you prefer to purchase these illustrations already professionally printed? Here is my listing for the actual prints: https://www.etsy.com/listing/707142139/set-of-three-charlotte-mason-quote?ref=shop_home_feat_3&frs=1
The most difficult part of homeschooling isn't the curriculum, it's the "managing it all" part. When I first started homeschooling 11 years ago, I had our curriculum perfectly planned out in my neat little planner. I couldn't wait for our first day. Everything was going excellently until...the laundry started piling up, math papers needed to
Here is a list of some habits that Charlotte Mason thought should be encouraged in children Academics shouldn’t be prioritized in young children – training their characters is more im…
A Charlotte Mason Picture Study Lesson Before we begin A Charlotte Mason Picture Study Lesson … First, I explain why I’m focusing subject by subject. Also, I include Charlotte Mason quotes because I find her original lectures on education to be SO inspiring and helpful. Next, please keep reading to see the break down of implementing lessons, […]
This is our first year of formal lessons now that we have a first grader! We are following the Charlotte Mason method for the most part, but there are some times where I just do what feels right for us. During our week you will see short lessons, narration, living books, a wide variety of subjects,
“Wrong will be made right when Aslan comes in sight, at the sound of his roar, sorrows will be no more. When he bares his teeth, winter meets its death, and when he shakes his mane, we shall have spring again.” “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe” -C.S. Lewis The wardrobe door opens and insta
When teach art, I use the immersive Charlotte-Mason approach which includes living books, narration, copywork, and creative expression. Here's how.
If you’re new to the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling, you may have heard about narrations and notebooking. Narrations are a key piece of a Charlotte Mason lesson.
The Charlotte Mason approach is very different to the Montessori approach. However, I love the Charlotte Mason focus on nature study and the significance of the 'atmosphere'. Miss Mason wrote “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.". Here are a few really lovely Charlotte Mason inspired learning spaces. Above the homeschooling room at Wildflowers and Marbles. Pyjama School Learning Space. These are good examples of setting up a home schooling space in a home, Charlotte Mason or otherwise. Farmhouse Schoolhouse - which has an amazing range of environments and materials, including some Montessori influences. You know I love this...
Don’t have time for crafting? It’s been a real struggle for me, but well worth the effort when I made it. Children should be working with their hands to create useful and beautiful things–this is what Charlotte Mason believed, and it lines up well with the Bible, research, ... Read More...
A key part of the Charlotte Mason method is narration. It's a great evaluation tool that can be done in many ways. Here is a list of creative suggestions.
After each reading that's part of our homeschool, I encourage both of our children (ages 6 and 8) to narrate. If you're new to homeschooling - or to Charlotte Mason's philosophy - narration may be an unfamiliar concept.Simply stated, narration is telling back in your own words what you've just read or heard. It's a simple but incredibly powerful tool that helps children process what they've just heard or read and allows you (the teacher) to evaluate their level of understanding. For younger children, it's best to start with oral narration and then move on to other forms (writing, drawing, building, acting out) as they become more adept. I've written about narration in more on this blog post: What Is Narration?, so head there to learn more! In the last year, our son (age 8) has begun using a narration notebook to write his narrations. Our daughter (age 6) still only narrates orally.So let's talk more about narration notebooking...+ How often does he do this?We do some form of narration every day, but try to use his narration notebook at least once a week.+ What does he write?He writes whatever he would say in his own words about what he just heard. Some days, it's a sentence or two. Other days, it's a whole page. He also loves to color or illustrate alongside his writing. (The Egypt page above was done using the illustrations from Around the World in Picture Books by Beautiful Feet Books. We love this curriculum!)+ What does he use?We have used a watercolor spiral notebook, a narration notebook from Beautiful Feet Books, and (what we're trying this year) a binder with loose leaf paper and sheet protectors. If you're gluing pictures into a notebook, I highly recommend using rubber cement so your pages do not wrinkle. These are our favorite watercolor set for kids, and we use these pencils. Whatever kind of notebook you choose, these will be such treasured keepsakes and such helpful documentation of how much your child has learned!
