www.CharlotteMasonMadeEasy.com

What kind of a question is this? you might wonder.  Well oftentimes moms can get burned out trying to “get it ALL done.”  As a mom, we wear so many different hats each and every day: wife, mom, teacher, housekeeper, grocery shopper, cook, chauffeur, booboo kisser…the list can go on, and on, and on.

How are we supposed to cope with everything?  In wearing the “teaching hat” alone, there are lessons to prepare, books to read or assess, schedules to figure out…  And then, when we don’t live up to our own impossible expectations we blame ourselves and feel like we’re failing. 

This blaming and judging of ourselves is so destructive to us and to our families.  And it usually causes us to react badly: we may start yelling at our kids because it seems that they are always fighting or arguing about something.  Or we may start complaining – about our kids, our constantly busy lives, our constant “to do lists.”  Will we ever get everything checked off?  Will we ever get through the mound of laundry that seems to be piling up faster than the landfill down the road?  Will we ever again feel like we have had a successful, peaceful, pleasant day? 

The answer is, “YES!”  Yes, you can catch up with your laundry, you don’t need to be yelling at your children, you can have an awesome day with your children again!  How you might ask?  Well there is a very special person who can help teach you how.  Her name is Charlotte Mason.

Charlotte Mason didn’t just provide a “theory,” or a “way of schooling.”  She had a philosophy which gives a whole new way to handle things…a whole new way of life while enjoying your children, and your time of teaching at home!  Over the years, she developed a philosophy of, not only education, but of a way to learn and to live life. 

She had a way of seeing things as God would have us see them…as the Bible says, “Think on things that are true, pure, lovely, right… (Phil. 4:8 NLT Study Bible). 

Miss Mason brings to light some of these “things” in the form of the Liberal Arts…the beauty of nature, the uniqueness of the arts, beautifully written poetry, exquisite portraits, classical music by great composers such as Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven.
And something that I particularly like about her philosophy is that Miss Mason realized that children were real human beings to be loved and cherished.  As the Jesus says, “I tell you the truth that unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.” (Matt. 18:3 NLT Study Bible)  She liked to see children enjoying time out-of-doors in the afternoons, enjoying nature, building things, using their imaginations, accepting and appreciating one another’s unique talents and abilities in their play, breathing in the fresh, clean air that God renews for us daily.

What better way to view the world – as God’s beautiful creation?  And for the mother, by having “short lessons” as Miss Mason encourages, this frees us up to plan our meals, catch up on our laundry, make plans for the next day, and get some of our ‘to do list” crossed off.

If this way of thinking and philosophy sounds like something that you are drawn to, then please, join me on this wonderful homeschooling journey.  Start by reading more about Charlotte Mason in this free, illustrated biography of Charlotte Mason:  http://www.charlottemasonmadeeasy.com/free-CM-biography.html

So many times as a homeschool parent I find it easy to ignore or at 
least minimize the importance of PE (Physical Education, or “gym 
class,” as we called it when I went to school). Somehow I can’t 
envision Charlotte Mason teaching the children how to play kick ball or 
dodge ball. (Not to mention that those games are a little difficult to 
do at home when you have only three or four children involved!) And I 
couldn’t reconcile her beautiful educational philosophy with the notion 
of compelling children to do mindless repetitions, like twenty-five 
jumping jacks and fifty sit-ups.

Therefore, this whole idea of “drilling” (i.e., Swedish drill) that was 
used in her schools intrigued me, and I went on a hunt for more 
information. Well, the wonderful inter-library loan lady at my local 
library found me a gem: “The Swedish Drill Teacher” by M.H. Spalding, 
copyright 1910. This little 72-page book (which sold for six shillings 
in London details the principles behind and methods of Swedish 
drill; and as I read about it, I was struck with how neatly it falls 
into step with Charlotte’s philosophy of education.

For example, the exercises and movements were used with a view to 
improving “the general health of the body rather than towards muscular 
development.” The drills were done outside whenever possible to allow 
for fresh air and deep breathing. The movements were done to command so 
the “pupils learn the power of quick and correct response to the 
command, and this involves concentration and quickness of thought, 
alertness of action, and effort of will. Since fresh commands for new 
and more complicated movements are continually being learnt, these 
qualities are always being more and more highly and acutely developed.”

Those comments dovetail wonderfully with Charlotte’s emphasis of a 
“serviceable body” as the goal of physical training (School Education, 
pp. 102, 103), her encouragement to spend lots of time outdoors (Home 
Education, p. 42), and the prominence she gave to the habits of full 
attention and mental alertness (Home Education, pp. 156, 185).

So what exactly is Swedish drill?

Swedish drill was a series of movements the students performed in 
response to the teacher’s vocal instructions. The movements were 
performed slowly and gently (for the most part), with an emphasis on 
balance and complete muscle control. As students grew more proficient, 
the instructions progressed to more complicated postures or movements.

Movements centered around the arms bending and stretching, the arm and 
shoulder muscles, abdominal muscles, and legs muscles. Some jumping, 
marching, and running were also included, along with breathing 
exercises when needed to regulate after a strenuous exercise. Each 
drill session began with “introductory movements,” similar to what we 
call “warming up.”

The teachers would start with various fundamental positions in 
different combinations. For example, here are some

Fundamental Arm positions: hands on hips, hands on shoulders, hands 
behind head with fingers lightly interlocked, arms extended (either up, 
down, out, or forward).

Fundamental Foot positions: astride (legs parallel with shoulders but 
wider than shoulders), walk (a comfortable step in the direction 
indicated), lunge (a long step in the direction indicated);

Fundamental Body positions: standing, sitting, lying, kneeling.

The instruction would be spoken once, with a pause for students to get 
a mental image of the position and how to move; then the “execution 
command” would be given (like “firm!” or “place!”), at which time the 
students would move. So the instruction “With feet astride, hands on 
hips (–pause–) firm!” would tell the students to place their hands on 
their hips while standing (with good posture, of course).

Simple arm instructions might be “Arms forward, sideways, and downward 
– stretch: 1, 2, 3″ (with a change of position on each number).

After the students found those fundamental positions no longer a 
challenge, the teacher would start to mix things up a bit with 
variations. For example, our first instruction used above could be 
expanded from “with feet astride, hands on hips — firm!” to “Hips – 
firm! Feet astride — place: 1, 2! (Student would move one foot on each 
number spoken.) Feet together — place: 1, 2! Left foot forward – 
place! Feet change: 1, 2!” (On “1″ the left foot is brought back; on 
“2″ the right foot is moved forward.)

Or they could increase the complexity of arm movement instructions by 
having each arm do a different position: “Left arm upward, right arm 
forward — stretch!”

Next, they could combine arm and leg positions, such as “With left foot 
forward, right hand neck rest, left hand hips — firm! Feet and arms – 
change: 1, 2! (One “1″ students come back to neutral position, and on 
“2″ the positions of feet and arms are reversed.)

The possibilities for combinations are endless when you throw in heel 
raising, facing different sides of the room, toe standing, knee 
bending, “half” positions (doing the movement with one side of the body 
only, such as half kneel), knee raising, leg raising, bending or 
twisting at the waist, controlled jumping, and marching in patterns. If 
you’ll pardon the comparison, the whole thing almost reminds me of a 
very advanced game of Simon Says.

The teacher was also encouraged to come up with some fun games and 
names for certain movements for the younger children (ages 6 to 8). For 
example, the “Do as I say, not as I do” game expected the children to 
listen carefully to the instructions and follow them even if the 
teacher took a different position. She might tell the children “Hips – 
firm!” but put her own hands behind her head. Or a fun balance movement 
would be “Taking off the shoe,” for which each student would bend the 
knee up and stand on one foot while taking off his or her shoe and 
putting it on again. Small children would also get to do “giant 
marching” or “dwarf marching” and “bunny jumps.”

There you have it: a quick overview of Swedish drill. I hope the 
explanation wasn’t too confusing. It’s hard to condense a 72-page book 
of instructions and physical movements.

Judging from the sample schedules, Charlotte’s schools did drill for 
about 30 minutes at a time. You can be sure the drill teacher had 
thought through the combinations and sequence before attempting to lead 
the children for that length of time. Some of us would be challenged 
just to think up enough variations to occupy ten minutes if we were 
operating off the top of our heads! But as a quick diversion in the 
midst of lessons, it might prove to be an enjoyable spontaneous 
exercise.

Sonya, author of Spelling Wisdom
http://www.simplycharlottemason.com

My initial idea was to provide friends for my 11 year old grandson who had had some tough family issues during the past year and had only been homeschooled a couple of years previously. He had not had opportunity to make any good friends. (This goal was met far beyond my expectations, but more on that later.) Not everyone could accept the invitation, of course. I really believe that God had a hand in putting our group together because it has worked unbelievably well.

Our group consists of 9 families and 18 students. Ages range from 9 years to 16 years, with the predominant group being around 11 & 12 years old. We all feel the Lord had a hand in blending us into such a cohesive group because the kids got together well, and the moms just LOVED being together AND watching the kids have such wonderful learning experiences.

Before the school year last year, we met twice to put the fall semester together, then again in December to plan the 2nd semester. Every time we meet to plan another semester, the main request we all have is for more time, more classes, more ‘free’ time for the kids to interact and play outdoors.

Each family who participates covers expenses for classes. We all paid a small amount to cover the color copy expense of the art prints. We try to keep costs to a minimum, but this year we purchased art supplies for pencil drawing and pen and ink. Everyone got the list well in advance of the semester’s start, and we made use of 40% coupons at Hobby Lobby as much as possible! Families could easily share some of the supplies, and some families already had some of the things needed, such as nature notebooks, copies of Shakespeare plays, and even the Latin program we used. For those who didn’t, we tried to make group orders to save on shipping costs. Some families have as many as three children participating in co-op, so we don’t want to make it cost-prohibitive for anyone.

What they Did

For our “Big Events” of the year, the Shakespeare play and the trip to Houston museums, our event co-coordinator mom got us some fantastic group prices. It truly pays to call and talk to someone at the event location because we paid much less for tickets to both museum exhibits than shown on their websites. For the play, we just decided to look at it as a cultural and educational experience for our kids that would be worth the expense.

Although we understand the concept of short lessons, we’ve really had longer time slots for our subjects. We do this because we only meet once a week, and because most of the children are old enough to work longer without becoming restless.

Latin

We started out with a 30 minute Latin class (for beginners) but it was just impossible to do everything in such a short time, so we now run 45 min. to an hour, which seems contrary to CM’s method. However, within the hour we have 4 to 5 very varied activities, so it constantly changes the pace and the type of brain activity needed. We sing, chant, recite while standing. Then we sit down and look at the previous lesson’s homework, introduce the new lesson, and see if anyone has questions. Homework answers give everyone a chance to participate IF they have done the work at home. We go around the room for “popcorn” answers–pop up with the correct answer very quickly. The students really enjoy this opportunity to show their ability. Then we have a tale of Roman history, which holds them spellbound. Sometimes the story lends itself to a re-enactment style narration, and the students really enjoy wielding swords and shields.

Art

Art & art appreciation also work better if the teacher and students have longer to work. We’re blessed to have a mom who is not only an art major, but also very talented in art. They worked mostly in pencil and pen & ink. The kids learned so much last year. My 15 year old son absolutely LOVES this class, but the really great thing is that we had some kids who had never realized they were artistic that discovered they had some talent and really got into learning art skills. One mom reported that while the family was on vacation, they stopped at a visitor information center that had a long bridge to the center. One of her sons remarked that it would be a great scene to sketch, so the family made the effort to plan time for that when they came back through there on the return trip. Her remark was that that son would never have noticed or thought of sketching if it had not been for the art class that gave him the interest.

The teacher made 12 x 18 prints of our artist appreciation paintings, and they were beautiful. The highlight of the year was a field trip to Houston to see a wonderful exhibit of French artists from the 1800s that was on loan from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The kids were able to see the ‘real thing’ of some of the paintings they had studied. This same field trip also took in a traveling exhibit of the Roman Empire and artifacts in another nearby museum. Our Latin class hadn’t exactly reached the era of the Empire yet, but it was still extremely interesting.

Performing Shakespeare

Shakespeare is the only class we divided into 2 groups by age. The high school group only had 7 students, but they really meshed well together. We read 2 plays, one per semester. We chose the first play based on the opportunity to see it performed by a professional acting troupe during the semester. That was a very positive experience (Romeo & Juliet), and the high school students also had a Shakespeare project to complete during the semester that would be on display or be presented at the closing program. Everyone chose a different type of project: costuming dolls as Romeo & Juliet, writing a ballad of R & J with music & performing it, making a web page, creating a board game based on the play, writing and illustrating a children’s version of the story, and making a comic book version of one act of the play. The kids really stepped up to the plate on this assignment, and the results were awesome. Meanwhile, the younger group also tackled Romeo and Juliet. The mom who was teaching this group had some trepidation about doing a ‘love story’ with kids from age nine to twelve, and mostly boys at that! However, the swordplay was more than enough to keep them happy. She would have them bring their wooden swords to class, lead them all outside, and they would act out a street fight from the previous week’s reading. Needless to say, it was a big hit; actually, we chose a comedy to do the second semester–As You Like It–and it wasn’t nearly as popular with this group because there was absolutely NO sword fighting!

For the second semester of Shakespeare, the high school kids re-wrote the play, As You Like It, to abridge it so they could put on a play for our closing program at the end of the school year. The re-writing itself was a huge task, and they learned a lot about Shakespeare by trying to condense the play and retain the sense of the plot while keeping Shakespeare’s original words, or course. The play was a huge hit at the program. Parents (especially dads) were amazed to see their children act so well. We definitely saw some budding thespians!

Nature Study

Nature study was our other class. This one required the most tweaking of all. The church where we met didn’t have any ‘nature’ nearby. The nature mom brought in interesting things each week for the kids to observe, sketch, and learn about. Still, it didn’t seem to spark a lot of interest (we had several kids who’d never done nature study, so were kind of resistant to the concept of nature notebooks). We moms knew the problem was that nature study isn’t really meant to be done inside all the time. Finally, we hit upon a working plan. We met every other week at some nature outing–a nearby college’s nature trail, a pond that belonged to one of the families, the Forestry Museum’s nature trail, etc. Several of these walks were led by a wonderful Christian state Forestry employee who has an enthusiastic attitude. She had wonderful activities planned for the kids each time. The in-between weeks, we call show and tell and ask the kids to bring something interesting from home to share with the other kids. If it isn’t something they can bring it, they can bring their nature journal entry about it and share that. We also had several field trips with the Forestry lady as our guide that were wonderful outings. We saw a red-cockaded woodpecker colony, pitcher plants in a bog, and long leaf pine tree in all its growing stages. [Using experts is highly recommended by Charlotte Mason--CL]

Involving Moms in true Co-op Style

Four moms actually taught classes, one mom was our events co-coordinator, getting tickets, planning the closing program meal and arranging trips, etc., and the other moms handled snacks each week, and helped out in classes with hand-outs, stapling, etc. We will have 2 more moms teaching new classes this next year. We also bring lunches from home and share fellowship while we eat.

Showcasing the Accomplishments

Just a bit more about the program at the end of each semester: This was an important event for the children. They really enjoyed getting the opportunity to ‘perform’ for parents, grandparents, and friends. Again, we tried to vary the style of each program; for the program in November we had a dinner theater style. Everyone brought finger foods from home, and two of the moms set up an elegant buffet style table. We met in the fellowship hall of the church where we met each week, so we had nice round tables, tablecloths, centerpieces on each table, and classical music in the background. At the close of the spring semester, we planned an outdoor picnic and planned to put on our play outdoors because the setting of “As You Like It” is pastoral, the enchanted Forest of Arden. However, we rained out and had to fall back on Plan B, moving inside again. For this meal, we all pooled money to purchase pizzas to make it simpler.

For the program at both of these events we had Latin recitations, chants, and prayers, lines memorized from Shakespeare, and skits from the plays. And of course, at the spring program, the older class put on their play to wrap things up. There were also displays of the students’ art, their nature journals, and the Shakespeare projects of the first semester. Even the students who did web pages were able to bring a laptop computer to give a presentation of their work. Latin students received Certificates of Completion of year one of Christian Latin.

The programs were to showcase the accomplishments made during the co-op’s year of study, but many of the results could not be ‘shown’ so easily. I mentioned that I hoped to provide friends for my grandson. That goal was realized when the group of boys that were the ages of eleven and twelve became a ‘club.’ They played together at each other’s homes, and had enormous fun on the playground during breaks at co-op. They had a special ‘currency’ for purchases of homemade swords, hats, packs, and spy gear.

A benefit that I hadn’t expected was when a similar bond formed between the older teen boys. There were only four in this age group, and my fifteen year old son was one. They were half of the high school Shakespeare class. (All the boys sat at one table, and all the girls sat together at another one.<smile>) Somewhere about middle of the way through the co-op year, these guys became buddies. The bond formed during art class and came about over a joke about an art eraser they were sharing. (It’s too complicated to go into here, but the eraser came to be called “the community eraser,” and they made T-shirts to commemorate the event!) They called themselves “The Community.” It made a tremendous difference in several ways. I saw a definite rise in self-confidence based on this feeling of having friends who were supportive. When we began Shakespeare, there was a large amount of resistance about having to ‘act’ out anything. By the second semester, these same boys were reading As You Like It with (very bad) French accents and actually got into the stage production of the play after the girls in the class came up with the idea. These guys began getting together outside of class for bowling, movies, and working on special video/computer projects. I was very glad to see these friendships develop, and feel they were a special outcome of our co-op.

It was an awesome year! Everyone finished the year feeling very excited by all aspects of our group and looking forward eagerly to next year. We wrapped things up for the 2nd semester by the end of April, then we moms got together twice in May to plan next year! Well, actually we met once to plan, and once to just enjoy getting together at a local tea room with delicious lunches.

Next year we’re adding a Great Books discussion group and a speech class. Art skills class will be doing watercolors this year. We kept all the classes we had last year, also. We expanded our time together, and everyone is looking forward to another great year. We are excited to be privileged to be part of such a great experience.

I wanted to tell you enough to encourage you to go for it. I believe it’ll be an experience that will bless your family.

Joan E. Adkins 
I am part of a CM co-op and we have only met once so far. Most of our students are in high school so we are only meeting once a month but for a very full day! All the Moms are participating fully which has really encouraged the students. We have a nature study for an hour with an assigned item to locate such as a bug or a flowering plant or a tree of choice. We provide reference books for us all to use as we look at and draw our item and add interesting tidbits of information into our Nature notebooks. Although I enjoy being in wild settings I was VERY surprised that we used an hour in nature study during our first meeting! 

Next we change gears to poetry. We have challenged everyone to begin work on a poem for recitation at a poetry recital to be held in a few months and spent some time discussing this and will in the months to come give each other constructive feedback. 

We listened intently to one piece of music by one specific composer and looked at one painting card from one artist which we then entered into a art notebook. 

We corporately took a walk and then enjoyed our own packed lunches. We then began the reading of The Wind In the Willows by Kenneth Grahame with Ernest Shepard illustrations, while doing any quiet handicraft of our choosing. Specifically that illustrator because our 2nd book of the year is slated to be Winnie The Pooh by A.A. Milne and illustrated also by Ernest Shepard. 

After the reading we have time for individual work whether it is finish up an entry in the one of the notebooks or continued work on handicraft or stretch and chat while just a few from the group [none of us know who will be selected] separate to prepare a narration using one of many narration styles [compiled on slips of paper and placed in the hat from which they must draw three and choose their preference] Our final activity of the day is to listen appreciatively to the narrators as they give their presentation. 

I have been involved with co-ops of different natures throughout the 16 years I have been home schooling and I have never had a more enjoyable non-stressed day as our first CM co-op which we cooperatively renamed a knot meeting having enjoyed lively discussions on the meanings of different small group words and chose the one that made us smile with the play on words “We’re knot meeting today!” 

The primary reason for success in a co-op seems to be agreement between the families on styles of learning and behaviors. Picking a cohesive group that can work well without stressing out it’s more sensitive members or suppressing its most enthusiastic members is not easily done. Small groups work better than big groups and the leaders really need to be on the same page spiritually and educationally and time comitant-ly [Is that a word? It is certainly a heart felt definition!]. Plan carefully and do not be afraid to change it when and if it needs to be changed! 

Dear Catherine, 
My name is **** and I wrote before last summer. You told me to teach my 5 year old to love to learn. We are spending a lot of time outside. I am not very good at naming trees and plants, but I am trying. I have tried to do some solar system teaching. I am having difficulty figuring out where to start. I really appreciated the letter you sent before and any help you could give now I know would help again. 

I am using [a book] for reading and writing, phonics and spelling. It is working but it seems to be a little above her. The spelling mostly. I do not really have a math program, I can’t figure out what to do. I am using some preschool material I had left over. I have [work books] but She does not seem interested in doing much written work. I do not want to push her, but I do not want her to fall behind either. Thanks again for the help. 

It is difficult to know whether to advance a child or hold back a little. That is the job of a home schooling mom. Charlotte Mason wants us to challenge their minds and spend as much time as necessary in finding the materials that will create that love of learning. Charlotte knew that was difficult but she held to that. Moms need to look and look and look trying their best to find the good stuff and the age appropriate stuff. It is a task but you’ll be rewarded when you watch her learning true retainable knowledge.

Let me caution you about her age. I know you do not want her falling behind but at five years old she is not fully responsible for very much book work at all. I do not know what I may have said to you last year but if Charlotte Mason were raising her she would have her outside and you are doing that. She would have her learning the names of plants and you are aware of that. She would have her look at the constellations and you know of that. Early reading skills can be introduced with the view of love of learning (combined with challenging material) all done in a delicate and child friendly manner.

When she is six years old you can start to work and challenge her more. At that age she will learn to read and she’ll learn to narrate (tell back) things that she has learned. You will read out-loud to her a lot and you’ll want to keep taking her outside. I think a well rounded six year old education looks a lot like a well rounded sixteen year old education. She could enjoy classical music, trips to the museum, looking at fine art from a book on the couch too, working with paint and clay and colored pencils. She could take a class in dance or gymnastics, she might want to learn knitting. All of these fun, broad, mind opening and healthy occupations combined with math and alphabet writing.

As to these specific work books you have mentioned I am not familiar with them enough to comment and I don’t really have a favorite math program to recommend. I counsel you to keep looking, your eyes always alert, because even the K-Marts & Target stores have math workbooks. If you are always aware and looking you will find acceptable and enjoyable math materials.

To end, please don’t worry about her lack of interest at this precious young age. She’s still very young and don’t trouble yourself or doubt yourself if she doesn’t want to do any book work at all. When she turns six then you can begin, in a gentle and gradual manner to bring the interesting book work into her life and if she is involved with the outdoors and she has good habits and a healthy interest in the world around her she will be a learner and she will develop that love for learning.

Thanks for writing,
Catherine

Hi Catherine, 
I’ve been doing a lot of research on Charlotte Mason and her ways of educating a family and making it an atmosphere!! How refreshing – this is our second year of home schooling – we spent last year doing [textbooks] and it was just like taking the school room into our home. Although I’ve learned a lot about CM and her ways – I am having a hard time grasping it and nailing down a starting point. I have 3 children – 2 of which I will be home schooling – GR 3 and GR 1 my other child is 2. I know that I can incorporate most of the subjects with them together – my problem is understanding what each needs to know for their grade level. Sure, we love to read, but how do they learn their grammar, writing, spelling and math. Is this something I must supplement with workbooks? I am having a hard time with this! I really do hope you can help!! 

You’re a lot like me when I first started in the 80′s. I had one student my first year, one toddler and one newborn. I did textbooks the first year and didn’t like it at all. It caused me to burn out on home schooling the very first year. I almost put my oldest back in school but I never got the “peace” to do that so I muddled on.

How I got going with Charlotte Mason was to read all I could and then I had an all Charlotte Mason Summer School. I had nothing to lose because any thing I did was just extra. It was the best summer ever and we all learned more than we had ever learned before.

You ask about the 3 R’s. Reading, writing, and arithmetic. Those are skills and need to be taught individually and geared for the age level of each child. Exactly what is taught grade by grade is detailed in the closing portion of my third book, “A Literary Education”. There I have painstakingly gathered scopes and sequences for the USA and boiled them down to an easy to read, easy to use guide to “what” to teach for each grade. From your question I gather you’re writing from Canada and even though I did attend school in Canada as a youth I do not know exactly what is covered grade by grade as well as I do for the States.

Then as to “how” to teach grammar, spelling, and writing those three topics are covered in my first book, “A Charlotte Mason Education” which you can read in a few quick minutes.

I have also written before about whether to use workbooks or not in the 2nd book, “More Charlotte Mason Education.” I can see a few reasons to use them on occasion. One would be if/when you are extremely ill or caring for someone who is. Another would be when you simply “find” the perfect workbook for the some subject and it just fits well for the situation. Lastly, if you had a particular child who thrives in workbooks and children like that do exist. Even if you have one of those I wouldn’t throw a pile of workbooks in her direction and call it good. I wouldn’t rely on workbooks for anything other than math. But, the occasional workbook can be good idea at certain times.

Let me say one last thing. Sometimes the best way to get going with the Charlotte Mason method is to not jump in with both feet. Meaning, try one or two CM techniques at a time. Try art appreciation or try the nature notebook or the book of the centuries but keep at textbook/workbook system running along side in order to keep abreast of “what” all the other 3rd grade children are covering. As you gain confidence in the Charlotte Mason style and in exactly “what” subject matter you ought to be teaching then you can forego the workbooks and textbooks. Referring to them to whatever degree is a good way to know “what” to cover but don’t stay with only the textbook. Use its information to cause you to check out real books, living books on the same topic and then incorporate field trips to also augment.

I knew I couldn’t answer these questions without at least beginning to rewrite all that I’ve written before. Without sounding like a salesman let me point you toward reading my books because I am sure they will help you. I base that opinion on your questions.

I hope the very, very best for you. I hope you enjoy homeschooling as much as I do—and I really do enjoy it. Thanks for writing and let me know if I can do anything else for you.

Catherine

Dear Catherine, 
I am having a little trouble trying to comprehend what to do with my children and how to schedule them. They are in 1st and 3rd grades. I would really like to know, do I have to follow History in chronological order, do you recommend that geography always compliment and go along side History and does Bible and History have to go together or can I do CM anyway it fits, and it will all still work out?? And about science and Nature studies, how to go about it besides reading the Living books. And can I get most of what I need at the library? I know that I am asking a lot, but my children love when I read to them and when we talk together and I thought the CM approach and using Living books was for us. We tried the “DRY” curriculum with my daughter for the first couple of years and all she did was cry when we would do school, so we are changing. I was going to use Five in a Row, and did start, but it still is not the way I would like to school. And I would like to school both children at the same time as much as I can. 

I would like to know which of your books would help me the most with these things.  Thanks for your time and God Bless you for helping so many others like myself!!! 

I have schedules in both A Charlotte Mason Education (the 1st book) and in the 2nd book, More Charlotte Mason Education. My third book is a book-list book that guides CM moms toward the titles that Charlotte Mason used in her schools and many more books the we current CM followers have found. That book gives clear indication as to age appropriate books and “why” any given book is a good choice for a well read child. Also, that 3rd book has a scope and sequence in the back that is very clear and accurate as to “what” children in the USA cover in each grade level. It’s called A Literary Education; An Annotated Book List.

The answers to your questions are in all 3 of my books and I don’t want to sound like I’m giving you the hard sell but with the age of your children I think you need them all. You can get them at the library if buying 3 books is more than you were wanting to do. Even if your library doesn’t have my books on the shelf they can inter-library-loan them for you. Just ask them to do that.

I am a real home school mom and I still home school so as I attempt to answer some of your questions please remember that I’m using my experience along with Charlotte Mason’s written works, a combination, so to speak.

No, I do not study history in chronological order. If you do then you have to start way, way, way back in time when the children are far too young, in my opinion, to be exposed to such ancient history. PLUS, the nice, living books intended for the younger children are mostly about Pioneer times for America and/or the Explorers, or Colonial America. Now, CM did mention to study topics in chronological order but I take her to mean that when you cover a country or a certain war or a life (biography) by all means do that study in chronological order. I don’t think we have to start at the beginning of time with our little 1st graders. Not everybody agrees with me on this, but you know, home schooler are individuals not clones and it is okay to think for oneself.

And no, the daily Bible reading does not have to coincide with anything else you’re covering. Life does overlap and connective topics do come up, on their own, you don’t have to force the connections. Both Charlotte Mason and I think that.

I won’t go into a lengthy answer to your science questions here but there is a chapter on that in the first book. Do go outside a lot, do try a voluntary nature notebook, (aka nature diary) and always teach the practical before the abstract. And yes, use lots of living books.

To teach two children at the same time divide everything into two groups, skills and knowledge. Skills are aged based and need to be taught at that child’s level. Learning how to read, spell, write, and do math are some skills. You will probably have to teach that side of education at separate levels, if you don’t then good for you!! You have an advantage that most of us don’t have. All other topics, subjects, classes, etc can be learned all together. For example, cover elephants and volcanoes, and biology and history together, with both children, using the same books and field trips. The younger one will respond and narrate at a different level than the older one will but that’s okay, the two of them do that on everything they experience in your house. One of them is older than the other one and they are probably used to that.

Please avoid anything dry and boring. The very second you see that something is causing tears and boredom drop it like a bad habit. There will always be a more interesting way to learn something and there will always be a more boring way to learn something. Keep yourself to the interesting and the children will love to learn. That is the whole key to CM. The love of learning.

Thank you and I hope I’ve been of some help,
Catherine Levison

Catherine,  Thank you so much for all your expert advice!!! I will definitely get all three of your books to read and have as a reference.  God Bless

Dear Catherine,
I love the CM approach, I have a problem with putting it into action. I hate to say *I can’t get my kids to read* but it’s pretty much true. Even if I take the blame, how do I fix it? I have a 12 year old daughter and a 15 year old son. They do like to watch TV and play video games, but I don’t let them do that too much, probably is too much if the truth be known. Is that the problem? I let them choose the books they want. DD likes books about horses and DS like anything medieval. I bought them probably 4 books each, but I have to *make* them read. Once they start reading, they are okay, but they don’t do it on their own. Or I’ll tell them they have to read before they can watch TV or play video games. I also tell them if they would read, we could cut out some of the *text* books because they could get everything from reading good books. That doesn’t do any good. It’s very hard for me to make them do what’s right.  Please be blunt with me, I need a honest opinion. Surely I’m not the only one with this problem. 

I also need some direction in teaching a highschooler. 

The truth is that some children are born readers and some are not. It’s a lot like spending or saving money and it’s a lot like the way people are with house keeping.

I have five children. Two of the girls had to share a room for a few years. One was Felix and one was Oscar, meaning one was neat and tidy and made her bed with great care and the other was very messy. This is how they came into the world, they had these tendencies.

I also had children who spent every cent they ever had and I had some children who saved money very well.

I found the same thing with reading. Even if TV had never been invented some people really, really like to read and others do not. The other group might prefer painting or hiking over reading.

However, we all need to know how to read well and do what CM calls “Read to Know.” That is reading with comprehension. The one chance reading coupled with the narration is the way that good habit is established. It is a great time saver all of one’s life to read something one time and understand it completely.

So, your children need to practice reading even if they don’t like it. Keep in mind that they don’t like it that much and have mercy on them. But do assign reading to them.

You’re on the correct tract, I believe, by bargaining with them to a certain degree. Present two books and make one interesting and the other a boring textbook. Tell them they have to spend 15 mins reading either one they choose but in either case they WILL be narrating the reading to you.

Children need to know and thrive from knowing what is expected of them. If you make it a habit to be perfectly clear on what the reading assignment is and how long it is to last and what accountability will be asked of them after I think you’ll find that they comply much better.

Having said that, if at anytime your children will not do what you tell them to do then you have entered into a discipline problem and you need to handle that according to your own standards. Believe me, there’s not a parent among us that does not run into discipline problems with our children. It as though some children were born to test the limits on every situation and of course some are compliant and very easy on their parents.

For high school everything I could ever think to say I wrote in my second book, “More Charlotte Mason Education” and you might consider borrowing a copy of that to read my chapter there.

I hope I’ve been of some help here. Thanks,
Catherine Levsion

Hi Catherine, 
Thanks for getting back to me. I like the idea of giving them a choice of books, one being a text book! You know, if they ever get started reading they enjoy it, it’s getting them going. DS used to read much more. He read the two Eragon books back to back and is still upset that Christopher P. hasn’t written the third one! I’ll look for your book. 
Thanks so much, I didn’t think there was much hope with my two. You given me something to look forward to. 
Thanks again.

Dear Catherine,
I met you briefly in the summer at the conference in Victoria. I have been very much enjoying your second book, “More Charlotte Mason Education”, which you recommended since I have been homeschooling a few years. I asked you a question about dictation, regarding one-time learning and selected dictation passages. You said that dictation should be assigned at the beginning of the week and then tested at the end, therefore putting the onus on the child to know what is coming and thereby avoid repeating sentence. However, I noticed in the appendix of the book that your schedules show dictation being done 4 or 5 times per week. Does this mean you assign more than one passage per week for testing, or that some dictation periods involve unseen material, while others involve previously studied passages? I have been using your suggested method with my girls since the beginning of the school year, giving an assigned passage on Monday and testing it on Friday. However, my kids are finding it tedious and boring. We have been using bible passages, which may explain some of their frustration, because there is allot of punctuation in this writing. Should I choose prose from a favourite book, or should I let them choose their own passage? I had just surmised that if we did bible for dictation that I could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. What would you recommend? My girls are in grades 5 and 7. Also, I have a daughter in grade 3 but decided that she was too young yet for dictation. At what age do you recommend starting kids with dictation? Thank you in advance for your time

I will answer these by pulling out each question individually.

#1 Why is dictation scheduled every day of the school week if the assignment is given on Monday & the testing is done on Friday?

Answer: To allow the child time, each day, to work on it. The 10 to 20 mins. allowed on the schedule not only gives them time to work on the memorization of the passage but also serves as a reminder that they are responsible to have this thing done (and done right) by Friday. I encourage each child to at least read the passage daily but I also suggest that they write it out at least one time during the week. What I am looking for on Friday is this: The ability to take the dictation from me verbally while getting every word, every comma, every semi colon, capitalization (in other words everything) correctly written. When I used the word memorization above I don’t mean that as we usually think of the word. Normally that brings recitation to mind. There is no recitation, but a successfully done dictation assignment has brought about a type of memorization. And let’s not forget the main point. Language Arts; yes, they are all being learned, well many of them are, with each successive passage. One passage may teach the capitalization of cities or names and another may teach one proper use of the semi colon.

#2 Does this mean you assign more than one passage per week for testing, or that some dictation periods involve unseen material, while others involve previously studied passages?

Answer: No to all three questions here. I only assign one passage per child per week. There is no unseen material and no, there is nothing in the way of studied passages.

#3 However, my kids are finding it tedious and boring. We have been using bible passages, which may explain some of their frustration, because there is a lot of punctuation in this writing. Should I choose prose from a favorite book, or should I let them choose their own passage? I had just surmised that if we did bible for dictation that I could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak. What would you recommend?

Answer: We do not want the children to find this exercise to be boring. In fact the love for learning does not allow much room for boredom. Boredom is the enemy at all costs. But the Language Arts HAVE to be taught. My children have uttered a complaint here and there about dictation over the years. I always do the same thing. I pick a textbook from the storage area and the very next week we work out of the “English” textbook. Normally, that would be either Abeka or Rod and Staff, only because that’s what I have handy. The same thing always happens, the child does NOT LIKE it at all. I then offer to return to dictation on the following Monday, this works around here and quickly takes care of complaints. It would be similar to me with a certain water faucet I have. It takes an unusually long time to “warm up” and I wind up standing there fairly unhappy each time I use it. Let’s say that for one week I had to go “out back” and fetch some water from the pump, aka well, in the dead of winter. And let’s say that I had to warm the water over the wood burning stove and wait for it to warm up before I could wash my hands. Wouldn’t I be a happy, happy girl the next week when I was able to return to indoor heated plumbing?

Now as to what kind of passages to select. It does not need to be an entertaining bit of writing. I have resisted the urge to kill two birds with one stone for a long time. I mean, if the book is at all worthy of being in your house it must have some redeeming information in it, and the child does spend much time with the passage, they will get to know it’s content. However, I do not choose according to content near as much as I analyze the passage for its Language Arts characteristics. One week I want to choose a passage with strange spellings, another I want the m-dash, or the quotation marks to be emphasized. We read the Bible daily, and it is my favorite book because it’s no ordinary book, it’s God’s Word but I NEVER use it for dictation. The structure and the grammar and the punctuation are not what I’m looking for. Neither would I choose the child’s favorite book. We don’t want to kill their esteem for that book by making them “work” in it. I do use a favorite book for penmanship however.

#4 At what age do you recommend starting kids with dictation?

Answer: They have to be able to read and write, that’s for certain. I have used “readers” as first dictation passages for children about 7 to 8 years old. Their assignment would only consist of the very few words on the page. You want the child to feel successful so you don’t want the work to be too hard for them. Also, this gives the younger child a chance to do the same work as the older sisters are doing. During dictation time the younger child also has an assignment to pull out. As the child is getting to be 10 to 13 years old the passages become longer and more challenging. In fact, by grade 8 and grade 9 more than one page can be assigned. So much is learned and that is a great thing. Only be careful to not assign things just for the sake of busy work or to have an assignment on hand. Make sure that there is some Language Arts to be learned (or reviewed) with each selection made.

I am hoping I may have been of some help. I always appreciate questions that come in after someone has read a book of mine. It helps me to know what kind of situations a person comes across as they begin to implement the Charlotte Mason methods.

Thank you for writing,
Catherine Levison

Dear Catherine, 
I wonder if CM would have approved of learning games? Our youngest dd is very interested in horses, especially more so since we’ve moved into a more countrylike area. Next year I was planning to use Beautiful Feet Books History of the Horse. But for Christmas we got the game Herd Your Horses and it’s quite a fun and educational game. There are 4 different games you play with the game board, one of them for one player and several card games you can play with the horse cards.

I never really thought about it in those terms. Would CM approved of learning games?

I have used learning games to large degree. My family loves them. I have approval of them because they are fun and the promote learning. We do know that Charlotte Mason wanted children to have a love for learning so I think she would have approved.

That game sounds fun, if I ever see it I may buy it.

Thanks,
Catherine

Dear Catherine,
Hi, I am new to CM method but have been interested since starting homeschool 3 years ago (just didn’t have the nerve to try it). My dd who will be in 10th grade has always used textbooks and reading literature. Are there any suggestions to getting started with her or is it just as simple as it sounds? I plan on doing history and science together with both of my dds. Is there a suggested schedule for high school? I read the books but feel a little nervous about high school. 
Thanks for any advice.

High school can have a different feel to it and to be a little nervous is very normal.

It sounds like you already read “More Charlotte Mason Education.” That book has schedules and a big chapter about teaching the high school aged student. One of my main intentions in that chapter was to alleviate the fear of teaching high school.

So if you already read that then you know most everything I have to say on high school…but I can add this. I remember going into high school with my oldest daughter who had been attached to textbooks. She really did well with them and I knew that to deny her the use of them would be stupid on my part. She liked them and she really was learning from them. So I approached the many CM techniques and ideas with caution with her. We added one new CM thing at a time. She was such a great reader that the literature was not a problem at all for her. That made the Shakespeare go well for her too. The nature notebook is an example of something that she did not adjust to or use at all. But that’s okay because they are always voluntary for the CM children.

The written narrations went very well because she was gifted in writing. I could go on detailing her high school years but my point is that she was (and is) an individual and I treated and accepted her bents and desires with a lot of respect. Looking back I’m glad that I let her hang on to her textbooks as she sampled the CM concepts.

And I agree with you that approaching the science and history with both daughters is a good use of valuable time. They can cover the same exact topic at the same time but they may react differently. The high school daughter will probably write brilliant narrations and work independently for example.

Here’s to your success and well being!!!
Catherine