Welcome to The Heart of the Matter’s 10 Days of Homeschooling blog hop! Over the course of ten posts in ten days (Am I CrAzY?), I’m going to do my best to introduce you to the Charlotte Mason style of homeschooling and how I somewhat eclectically incorporate it into my homeschool. I hope you’ll stop by every weekday over the next two weeks to learn about the rich and meaningful learning that makes a Charlotte Mason education so enjoyable.
First, just in case you’re new to my blog, I’ll take just a minute to introduce myself. I’m Cindy West, wife to Steve and mom to Mahayla (14), Caleb (10) and Eli (4). We live on a cattle farm in Central KY which is an awesome setting for tons of homeschooling opportunities and rambunctious students! I co-own Shining Dawn Books where my partner, Melissa Leach, and I write NaturExplorers studies and other “living” curricula. I love encouraging homeschooling moms to embrace every moment with their children by making their time together meaningful and enjoyable.
Just who or what is Charlotte Mason?? Charlotte Mason was a 19th century British educator who believed education was “an atmosphere, a discipline and a life.” She believed in teaching children in ways that encouraged curiosity and enthusiasm, while at the same time expecting excellence in many areas – even more areas than most curricula expect. Her philosophies are still fresh today, especially among homeschoolers who use them unfailingly to raise bright, resourceful children.
Today, I’d like to focus on WHY our homeschool follows the Charlotte Mason style. I’ll get into the nitty-gritty of CM particulars over the course of this series, but today I want to write about the ooey-gooey, mushy feelings that make this method of homeschooling my primary style.
Through such things as reading living books with my children, teaching them handicrafts and enjoying nature together, there’s a sort of “life is school” attitude that’s had me hooked from the beginning. Lessons are gentle and conducive to sitting on the couch all snuggled up.
I had been a public school teacher previously and saw so many precious children who could have thrived if their moms and dads would’ve simply taken the time to love up on them during lessons. (Homework, of course.) As much as I tried, as their classroom teacher I couldn’t love on every single student every day – making school work and home work sterile and uninviting. I knew from the moment I started homeschooling that a loving, encouraging, anything-but-sterile environment was what I wanted to create for my children.
After reading Susan Schaeffer Macaulay’s For the Children’s Sake when my oldest was five years old, I knew I had found the answer! It was possible to “do school” with the sweetness that I had envisioned. And the author spelled it out for me in such a way that built my confidence enough in reading that short little book to carry me through schooling with the CM style nine years later!
Little did I know in the beginning how much more blessed our school would become using this approach. For example, one major added bonus to this “gentle style of learning” (and there are lots of bonuses) includes lessons that are short and sweet, which allows more time for the extras of life. Those extras including: time for my kids to be kids, time to explore personal interests, time to take 4-H classes, and even time for running errands. Blessings indeed!
Don’t be fooled, though! All this gentle, loving, short and sweet talk doesn’t equal up to a less than superior education. On the contrary, I have been able to offer my children very challenging material, and lots of it. It’s actually because of the simplicity and sweetness that we have more time to dive deep, tackle tough stuff and take outside classes that we otherwise wouldn’t have the time to do!
Okay, enough for today. Snuggles, sweetness, time for kids to be kids, AND real learning…Have I convinced you about how wonderful a CM education is yet? During the rest of the series, I’ll write about each of the key characteristics that make a Charlotte Mason education work! Tomorrow’s topic: Living Literature.
Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th!
Welcome back to day 2 of The Heart of the Matter’s 10 Days of Homeschooling blog hop! You can find the first post in this series here.
I promised a look at each main aspect of a Charlotte Mason education, so today we dive right in and take a look at one of my favorite parts – living books!
What in the world is a living book? Quite simply, living books come alive as you read them. They are so well-written and engaging that you can hardly put them down. Unlike boring, dry textbooks, or silly “twaddle”, living books don’t make you feel as if you just wasted your time. They come in all subjects (yes, even math!) and can be found in the form of picture books, chapter books and even some textbooks! (Although there are many examples, I would consider Story of the World and Apologia as textbooks with a “living” feel.)
Picture yourself with your children – PK through high school – snuggling on the couch reading a wonderful book together. Every single one of your children begging you to read more once your time is spent. And you, secretly as excited as your children, agree to “just one more chapter”.
Think about your family loving books so much that you all race for the books on CD section of your library to see who can find the next best thing to listen to in the car.
Imagine your children filling their library cards with so many books that you can’t imagine they would really read all of them. But they do!
These scenarios REALLY happen in our house, and can in any house where living literature is given a priority!
Mom, developing a deep love for literature in your children takes a little effort on your part. You have to enjoy this time yourself. You have to become as intertwined in the stories as your children, at least at first, until they find the love of literature themselves. This can be hard for moms who either don’t like reading or don’t want to take the time to schedule it. Think of it like exercise. Once you start exercising and get in the habit, you feel so much better, right? It’s the same with living books. Once you start reading really good books with your children, not only will you find yourself surprisingly enthralled, you’ll form a habit for your family from which everyone will benefit.
Lessons in all subjects can come from living books, but we tend to focus most of our reading attention on historical fiction and biographies of famous historical figures, scientists and missionaries. Adding a really good book (or more) to a study of any history topic, for instance, brings my children personally into the time period. As they get to know the characters and become part of the storyline, it gives them an emotional perspective unlike other lessons. We can read textbooks, complete lapbooks, make projects, write our own stories, etc, but nothing quite puts them into the time and place of history like a living book.
Even though I said we tend to focus most of our living literature attention on history and science, don’t forget that great books can be found to enhance any subject from grammar and math to artist and composer study! And sometimes, just reading for the sake of reading a good book fits the bill!
Unfortunately, you will come across lots of twaddle out there, but you can find more living books in every genre than you could ever read in a lifetime! To save you the burden of searching for great books on your own, below are some great lists for all age levels.
Below are some curriculum companies that save you the burden of figuring out which living literature to incorporate into your lessons. (Before you read this list…not all of these companies claim to offer Charlotte Mason style lessons. I’m not necessarily endorsing any company’s curriculum. Each of them, however, give you really good options for adding living literature to your lessons. I’d love for you to leave a comment sharing other companies you’ve found that offer lessons based on living literature!!)
Welcome to day 3 of The Heart of the Matter’s 10 Days of Homeschooling blog hop! You can find the previous articles in my Charlotte Mason series here.
One of the most refreshing aspects of CM style homeschooling is the implementation of short lessons, especially for elementary-aged children. Most lessons should last no more than 10-20 minutes for elementary children and up to 40 minutes for older children.
My philosophy has always been, “Why go on and on when you don’t need to?” As a new homeschooling mom many years ago, I was always in a conundrum about how to keep records. According to my state’s requirements, I was supposed to teach various subjects for XX hours per day. But, what those making the rules didn’t know is that it doesn’t take XX hours per day to accomplish the exact same amount of work as a normal public school child. In fact, it usually takes WAY less time!
Once jumping fully into the CM philosophy, I realized that not only were my instincts right to not keep pushing certain subjects “just because”, but it’s actually better for children to work on lessons in shorter bursts. Charlotte Mason knew, like any of us who have ever worked with children (or adults) that the attention span is only so long. Once past a certain point, little minds zone out. You know I’m right, don’t you?
By incorporating short lessons, you’re actually requiring your child pay closer attention and work more diligently. How’s that? Think about the typical grammar lesson, for instance…One or two pages from a grammar book is generally plenty for one day’s worth of grammar. Unless your child is a dawdler, there is no reason the teaching and completion of the lesson should take more than 10-15 minutes. If your child is a dawdler, he is simply wasting both his time and yours. The dawdling has become a habit. (We’ll talk more about habit training in a future post.) The longer the dawdle, the less focused attention to learning. And the less focused attention on any other lessons of the day!
I never let my children get in the habit of dawdling, but occasionally they slip into it anyway. When that happens, I set clear expectations and pull out the timer. It doesn’t take too many episodes of having extra work assigned to get them back on track with getting busy the first time around!
Of course, I’m talking about a bad habit rather than a child who’s struggling. But even for a struggling child, lessons should be kept short and sweet. He is no different than anyone else in the length of attention span. It might mean that you simply move more slowly through the curriculum.
I’m going to post about my typical schedule later in the series, but here’s a quick look at a morning of lessons for my 5th grader. The lessons vary as the week goes on, but this is pretty normal.
Bible 10-15 minutes
Memory Work 5-10 mintues
Math 20-40 minutes, usually on the 40 minute side
Spelling 5 minutes instruction with me, 5-10 minutes to complete an assignment
Writing 10-15 minutes, often included as part of our history or science study
Grammar 10-15 minutes
Typing, Handwriting (Copywork) OR Vocabulary 10-15 minutes
Reading to Self 15-30 minutes
History and/or Science as a family 30-60 minutes
So, before lunch, he’s tackled all the 3 R’s + some. The afternoons, as you’ll see in a coming post, aren’t wasted educationally – they just take on a different “look”.
Some people really struggle with the concept of short lessons because they feel like their child can’t possibly be getting “enough” in such a short amount of time. The Lord blessed me with several years in the public school before homeschooling so that I could have plenty of encouraging words to say to homeschooling moms and dads – - – What I cover with my children in short lessons at home is no less than what I covered in much longer lessons in the classroom! What takes my children a few short minutes to do at home is the same material I would’ve spent way too much time trying to explain to 30 students in the classroom – while at the same time making Johnny sit down, asking Sally to stop talking, allowing Robby to go to the bathroom, stopping to answer a question from the teacher next door and answering a phone call from the front office. Trust me. Short lessons done well are enough!
I forgot to mention in the previous posts that I welcome all comments and questions! I hope you’ll come back tomorrow as we take a look at Narration, Dictation and Copywork!
Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th!
Welcome back to The Heart of the Matter’s 10 Days of Homeschooling blog hop! You can find the previous posts from my Charlotte Mason series here.
Today’s topic focuses on narration, dictation and copywork. I might as well go ahead and tell you that this is my weakest area. I didn’t want to leave it out of my series, though, because it truly is a very important aspect to the CM style! So let’s just get down to business…
Narration is simply retelling something in your own words. This is a very important skill for many reasons – it requires focused attention, encourages attention to details and information, helps a child organize his thoughts, and teaches him to speak clearly and expressively. Narration is quite easy.
Read a sentence, poem, passage or chapter to your child, or have him read it himself. Once. This is key because you want him to listen well the first time.
Encourage him to retell as much as he can remember in his own words, adding any opinions or comments as he wishes. (Mom should refrain from interruptions.)
Dictation is meant to encourage attention to spelling, grammar and punctuation. A child is given a poem or passage and asked to read and reread until he feels comfortable with spelling all the words and adding the correct capitalization and punctuation. Mom then reads the passage one sentence at a time expecting her child to write it correctly. Incorrect spelling and grammar are corrected immediately so that bad habits don’t form.
Copywork is meant to encourage handwriting, while at the same time reinforcing grammar and spelling. A child is given a sentence, poem or passage, depending on his ability, and is expected to simply copy it word for word, capital for capital, and punctuation for punctuation.
Older children replace copywork with transcription, which is simply reading a sentence and trying to rewrite it correctly without looking back at the original. Good sources for copywork include Bible verses, quotes, paragraphs from living literature, hymns, recipes and “whatever is pure, whatever is lovely…” Philippians 4:8
In completing all three – narration, dictation and copywork – regularly, your child obviously grows in the skills of paying attention, recalling details, public speaking, grammar, spelling and handwriting. At the same time, when excellent materials are chosen, he will internalize such things as the qualities of good writing and moral character.
Why have I not been the best at incorporating these methods into my homeschool? Well, quite honestly it’s partly because of laziness on my part an partly because I load our day with lots of other things. Neither are great excuses. However, one of the most wonderful aspects of homeschooling is the freedom to choose what and how to teach. No matter what style of education I lean toward, I can mold it to fit the specific wants and needs of my family. Plain and simple. And I wouldn’t have it any other way! Even though these methods haven’t been a consistent part of our schooling thus far, I actually DO have plans to be more consistent with them as my four-year-old begins schooling because I recognize their great value.
What about you? Have you seen the benefits from using narration, dictation and copywork consistently? I hope you’ll come back tomorrow for the conclusion of the first week as we discuss Living Math!
Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th!
Welcome to day 5 of The Heart of the Matter’s 10 Days of Homeschooling blog hop! We’re halfway through this awesome event, and I hope you’ve gleaned as much as I have from all the wonderful ladies taking part! You can find the previous posts in my Charlotte Mason homeschooling series here.
Today I’d like to focus on Living Math. This term is not part of Charlotte Mason’s actual vocabulary. She talks about living teaching, which we can assume means all subjects should be taught in a “living” manner. Going back to the definition of living when I wrote about living literature, this means our lessons should be engaging, come alive and not make our children feel as if they’ve wasted their time. In other words, the lessons should be meaningful and have a real means to an end.
When talking about math, it’s a little harder to convince most of our children that lessons really do have a means to an end! However, when we are giving assignments that build upon understanding, turn on “light bulbs” in the mind, and tie learning into real-life, we aren’t wasting their time (no matter what they may think!) On the other hand, we do waste their time when we dole out assignments that do nothing more than make our children repeat problem and after problem,
all of which they already can do proficiently,
or with no real understanding.
With that in mind, living math can take on MANY forms – including textbook lessons – IF they have meaning. Each lesson then, should build on a previously mastered concept, practice concepts that haven’t yet been mastered, or introduce entirely new new concepts.
Real understanding should be the first and foremost goal, rather than having your child get the right answers. Some children can get the right answers, but have no idea why. Later down the road, they begin to struggle with higher level math because they never really understood the basic concepts to begin with. To build real understanding, especially for younger children, learning needs to go from concrete to abstract. Manipulatives are a great way to do this because your child can actually touch, move and form a picture of math. Once your child has a good grasp of the concept using manipulatives, the next logical step is to draw pictures on paper, followed later by writing equations. In this way, you move your child from concrete to abstract understanding and math begins to make sense.
There are many, many methods of teaching math so that it’s well-rounded, concrete, meaningful and joyful. In our home, we use a math textbook about 3 days a week (adding manipulatives when necessary) and use other methods the rest of the week. I’ve been known to include:
living literature
logic
problem solving
technology
projects
real-life activities
games
and anything else I can dream up
The biggest question I get when talking about my living math schedule is, “What about not finishing the textbook?’ You’re right, if I’m only doing the textbook 3 days a week, it’s not being finished each year! We finish about 2/3 of it, and have ever since my children were in kindergarten. At the end of the school year, I have my children take the math placement tests I find online (Saxon) and they’ve NEVER failed to sail easily into the next year’s curriculum, sometimes higher.
There is so much more I could explain about how to incorporate living math that I could write a book. Oh, wait! I have! If you’d like to learn more about HOW to add living math into your schedule, consider Loving Living Math.
I’ll also be speaking on this topic on Feb. 23 during the Heart of the Matter’s Online Conference. Tickets are very reasonable! Don’t forget that I’ll be drawing a name tomorrow for a FREE ticket to the conference. All you have to do is leave a comment on one of my 10 Days of Charlotte Mason posts before midnight tonight!
One week down, one to go! Join me again Monday as we discuss Artists, Composers and Poetry!
Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th!
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