CM Scheduling

Posted by Cindy on April 18, 2008

And finally, post #4 of 4 from our Question Box topic week at co-op.

How do you schedule a Charlotte Mason-style day?

Short answer:  Any way you want!  LOL

Longer answer:  If we’re talking a true CM day, it will be characterized by the following:

-short bookwork lessons (10-30 minutes depending on the age of the child and the subject)

-daily lessons in Bible, copywork, math, language arts, foreign language

-weekly or more lessons in science, history

-bookwork finished in the morning hours

-afternoons spent outdoors with free play or nature study, handicrafts, reading, etc.

-time scheduled throughout the week for nature study, artist/composer study

I’m not a CM “purist”, but our day usually goes something like this:

Chores – aka Life Skills

Bible

Bookwork – which isn’t necessarily workbooks.  This includes everything from math to language to unit study.

Lunch

Family Reading  – sometimes quiet time reading

Art/Nature/Handicrafts – sometimes guided, sometimes free

FREE Time

Here are some sample schedules from Simply Charlotte Mason.

Here’s another sample from Deborah Taylor-Hough.

I realize this post is fairly vague.  Since I don’t do CM education to a “T”, I don’t want to mislead anyone.  Also, my opinion as you’ve heard my say 1,000 times, is that your homeschool should be your homeschool.  Incorporate what you want to incorporate in a way that really works for your family.  A Charlotte Mason-style education is a wonderful path to take with your children, though, I can’t deny that!