Close
Menu

Charlotte Mason

A Charlotte Mason Education Works!

Throughout my 20 years of homeschooling, I sought to model Charlotte Mason’s ideas, insights and inspiration.

I hope that in these Charlotte Mason pages you will discover bits of wisdom to help you cultivate a love for learning in your children.

 

Cute,Adorable,Caucasian,Girl,And,Boy,Looking,At,Plants,Grass

The Habit of Nature Study

Nature study is not a subject we teach—it’s a way of life. A way of life initiated by a habit we must instill in the early years. Nature study builds into our children something that cannot be attained through any other means—a spirit of freedom and a sense of awe—a depth of understanding of God’s beautiful creation and a curiosity that stays with our children their entire lives. NATURE’S BENEFITS A hundred years before science showed the incredible benefits of nature on a child’s mental, physical, academic and social health, Charlotte Mason urged her readers to take the children out of doors […]

Homeschool girls thinking and imagining

The Habit of Thinking and Imagining

“The kids in my class don’t think,” my son remarked while explaining to me the surprising things he discovered his freshman year of college. “What do you mean they don’t think?” I asked. “They listen to the lectures, but never have any questions that go beyond what the professor taught. They just care about what’s going to be on the test.”  The problem with these students is not that they’re unintelligent. It’s that the school system is set up in such a way that thinking and imagining are not required. They’re also not encouraged. Students are asked to memorize a […]

Homeschool child in the habit of prayer and praise

The Habit of Prayer and Praise: The Language of the Soul

We don’t often think of Prayer and Praise as a habit to be trained. However, like Thoughts of God, prayer and praise can become second nature to us, to our children, if we make them a regular part of our day.  Anything we do regularly or continually can be considered a habit. And there is no better habit to develop than that of prayer and praise—the continual speaking to, consulting and thanking the Lord who is with us and in us.  LONGINGS OF THE SOUL Prayer and praise come out of the longings of our heart—the longings of the soul God gave us to commune […]

Homeschooled boy working with habit of perfect execution

The Habit of Perfect Execution: Instilling a Spirit of Excellence

The habit of perfect execution. Sounds intimidating, and perhaps a bit elusive. But what exactly is it?  It’s simply requiring our children to always do their best work.  That’s it. Charlotte Mason tells us, “’Throw perfection into all you do’ is a counsel upon which a family may be brought up with great advantage.”  EXCELLENCE This seems like a tall order. But Ms. Mason’s idea of requiring “perfection” does not mean instilling in our children a “spirit of perfection” but rather a “spirit of excellence” and a habit of completion in all they do.  And if we go about it in […]

homeschool girls practicing the habit of attention

The Habit of Attention: A Homeschool Mom’s Gift

The habit of attention is one of the most critical habits a homeschool mom can train—and one of the greatest gifts she can give. Why is this particular habit so important and so impactful?  Charlotte Mason tells us that all our children’s intellectual gifts—their natural intelligence and comprehension during learning and in life—depend completely on the cultivation of this habit.  It makes sense.  No matter how intelligent, if your children can’t focus long enough to truly learn and digest information, they won’t be able to use their brain to its full capacity.  And we all wish and hope for our children to reach their full potential.  Charlotte […]

little girl training the habit of truthfulness

Training the Habit of Truthfulness

When the right idea or thought is planted in the garden of a child’s soul, with the ever present help of the Divine Life—the Holy Spirit—that idea begins to influence a child’s thoughts and decisions.  Those decisions then become actions. Those actions then become habits. Those habits then become character.  I love how Ralph Waldo Emerson says it: “Sow a thought and you reap an action; sow an act and you reap a habit; sow a habit and you reap a character; sow a character and you reap a destiny.” SOWING IDEAS To train a habit, we must sow ideas. […]

BOY OBSERVING NATURE AND THINKING THOUGHTS OF GOD

Habits: Training Your Child’s Thoughts of God

Charlotte Mason tells us, “The child who starts out with, say, 20 good habits begins with a certain capital which he will lay out to endless profit as the years go on.” In the next series of posts, we will discuss many of the habits Charlotte Mason mentions and consider how best to train them in ourselves and in our children.  HABITS 20 good habits. That isn’t so difficult to achieve over the course of a child’s education. And yet, there’s one we must nurture first and foremost. The habit of “Thoughts of God.” Charlotte Mason says,  “The introduction of […]

Homeschool girl reading a living book

Living Books and How to Identify Them

Living books breathe life into learning. They engage the reader and offer up a bounty of original thoughts and ideas.  Ideas. They’re the key to living books. New, original, unique ideas are what mark a living book, bringing it to life. These ideas are like seeds planted. They germinate in our children’s thoughts and take on a life of their own. These ideas grow richer as they blossom, inspiring new ideas in our children’s mind that are all their own.  Charlotte Mason tells us, “The ideas required for the sustenance of children are to be found mainly in books of literary […]

boy inviting God into schoolroom

Inviting God into Your Homeschool

Imagine the genius and brilliance your children would exhibit if their thoughts were led by the Holy Spirit. Consider the ease they’d have in understanding challenging subjects.  Imagine how much less stressful homeschooling would be each day if you purposefully invited God into your schoolroom. If you allowed space for the Lord to be their Teacher.  When Charlotte Mason speaks of a Living Education, she’s referring to the Living God who breathes His Life into everything. Everything that concerns us—even and especially the education of our children.  If we’ll invite God in, He’ll breathe life into us. Life into our children. And life into our homeschool.  God’s […]

Mother,And,Daughters,Sitting,Under,The,Tree,On,Summer,Lawn.

The Power of a True Charlotte Mason Education

One of Charlotte Mason’s least discussed but most critical teachings is that of the Divine Life. It’s this foundational tenet that most powerfully permeates the words and works of Ms. Mason. She insists that the Lord is our children’s best and ultimate teacher, and her philosophy of education rests firmly on this truth. INSEPARABLE The concept of the Divine Life cannot be extracted from a true Charlotte Mason education; the two are inseparable. Therefore, Ms. Mason’s educational philosophy cannot be authentically employed in the homeschool apart from the Divine Life teachings. Ms. Mason believes it is our job as home educators to […]

letting alone of a homeschool girl

The Art of Letting God do His Job

One of Charlotte Mason’s key tenets was that of “letting alone, letting the children be.” Of giving them autonomy and allowing them to do what needs doing on their own initiative and in their own way—without our interference and prodding.  This, she insists, is what grows self-initiative—children who are self-motivated and find new interests to pursue on their own.  PRODDING Ms. Mason tells us,  “One of the features, the disastrous features, of modern society, is that in our laziness, we depend upon prodders and encourage a vast system of prodding…..What we must guard against in the training of children is […]

Girl serving with character

Character Training and the Divine Life

Character training may seem elusive and difficult to accomplish. Yet, Charlotte Mason gives us great insight into this most important aspect of a child’s education.  It’s quite simple, really.  Character training is a matter of conveying worthy ideas then allowing the Divine Life to work in the soul of the child.  It is this Divine Life that will build habits of right thinking that become habits of right doing.   Character is truly a matter of habits. Habits of thought and habits of deed.  You see, a child’s thinking shapes his temperament, which ultimately translates to behavior. LIVING IDEAS So what […]

Homeschool children enjoying leisure time

An Atmosphere of Leisure

A milestone birthday party, an anticipated performance, a treasured relative’s arrival.  That long awaited, saved up for vacation.  We enjoy the hustle and bustle of it all—the planning, the shopping, the excitement of getting everything ready!  But have you noticed our children tend to become high maintenance during these times?   Charlotte Mason tells us this is because,  “Nerve storms in the nursery are the probable result of the mother’s little ebullition of nervous energy.”  You see, our children catch our mood.  But instead of the excitement and motivation all the festivities give us, our children often feel overwhelmed and unhappy. […]

Homeschool mom cultivating faith in God

Cultivating Faith

Does doubt sneak up on you? Does it whisper that you can’t do this? That it’s too hard? Do you worry you aren’t doing enough? Do you believe you’ve fallen behind? Why do we let these thoughts debilitate us? Is it because we think it’s all up to us? That we are 100% responsible for our children’s education? We aren’t. Charlotte Mason tells us,  When we recognise that God does not make over the bringing up of children absolutely even to their parents, but that He works Himself, in ways which it must be our care not to hinder, in […]

Homeschool Mom cultivating self care

Cultivating Self Care

Forgive me for starting this blog with a few predictable clichés, but they’re powerful.  What I love about cliché is that the visual image in the small metaphor or simile tells an important story with few words. You can’t pour from an empty cup. An empty tank will take you nowhere. Put your own oxygen mask on first. And last but not least,  Self Care is giving the world the best of you, not what’s left of you. WOW.  The truth is, we don’t take care of ourselves well enough. We tend to everybody else’s needs while neglecting our own. […]

Self Confident Boy

Empowering Your Children with Self Confidence

In order to live a productive and unfettered life in this world, our children must have a strong sense of self confidence. They must know they can do all the great things God has called them to do—and do them well. Here’s an uncomfortable truth: Children live up to what we believe about them and measure up to what we expect of them. Sadly, most of the time, they measure down to what we expect of them. CONSIDER THIS  If we don’t trust that our children brushed their teeth and we require a breath test, they know in their heart of hearts we […]

Homeschool mom cultivating self confident

Cultivating Self Confidence

The fussy mom.  Are you acquainted with her? She is always commanding, demanding, interfering, intervening, redirecting, reminding, worrying, hurrying, hovering, and smothering, moralizing and mediating. FUSSINESS Many times during our journey I fell into the fussy mom syndrome, hijacking the joy God had for me, my children and our homeschool. Oftentimes it was because I was feeling insecure or fearful, catapulting me into homeschool mom overdrive. Charlotte Mason tells us,  “But the fussy parent, the anxious parent, the parent who explains overmuch, who commands overmuch, who excuses overmuch, who restrains overmuch, who interferes overmuch, even the parent who is with the […]

Homeschooling Fun

An Attitude of Good Humor

How’s your attitude? Do you struggle to show patience toward your children? Do you grumble about the inevitable mishaps, problems, and disruptions in your day? When your schedule falls to pieces, do you fall to pieces? As the saying goes, attitude is everything.  GOD’S WILL Very few times in the Bible are we told exactly what God’s will is for us. So it’s pretty powerful when we stumble across 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18:  Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.  This is God’s will for you. This […]

Self-motivated, wise passiveness, masterly inactivity

Raising Self-Motivated Children

We all want our children to be self-motivated. To take control. To be resourceful. And to be motivated to get it done—whatever it is. Especially school work! MASTERLY INACTIVITY When our children aren’t self motivated, we become frustrated, discouraged and even anxious. As usual, Charlotte Mason has the answer to our worries!  It’s a tenet she calls Masterly Inactivity and it’s the key to developing self-reliant, resourceful children who possess a long range motivation that endures far beyond our homeschool. There are 7 essential elements of Masterly Activity. Here we’ll discuss the most important element: WISE PASSIVENESS Wise passiveness is […]

Nature Study

How to Make Nature Study Awesome!

Nature study builds into our children something wonderful. Something that cannot be attained through any other means. It instills a spirit of freedom and a sense of awe. A depth of understanding of God’s beautiful creation. And a curiosity that stays with our children their entire lives. The more time they spend outdoors exploring nature—freely and without structure—the happier their childhood memories will be. What a precious and invaluable gift to give our children!  My son recently told me he feels sorry for the kids in his college classes who spent their entire childhood sitting in a school classroom. He […]

A woman with a child is reading

How to Train Your Child’s Character – The Charlotte Mason Way!

Training your child’s character can be likened to tending a garden. Nurturing to life the good character qualities you want to see grow and blossom. It’s about watching over what’s sprouting up and carefully cultivating that which will one day bear fruit. It requires tilling the soil and weeding out anything that is not fructiferous and fragrant and beautiful. Charlotte Mason considered character traits to be habits. Habits of thought and habits of deed. A mother’s role is to gently guide the child, like a guardian angel, into habits of gentleness, courtesy, candor, respect for others, and truthfulness. The work […]

Little girl reading a book under big linden tree

How to Cultivate the Art of Free Time in Your Homeschool

Free time in the homeschool is an art. One worth pursuing. It’s a long forgotten yet invaluable rhythm of education and is truly one of homeschooling’s best kept secrets. Not only is it necessary to understand the importance of free time, you need to know how to implement it into your homeschool day. Leisure was a cornerstone of Charlotte Mason’s methodology, and she provided ample amounts for her students. In addition to their academic studies, each day Charlotte would give the students large blocks of free time to pursue their own interests and passions, like the arts. They engaged in […]

Narration in HS

Narration: A Homeschool Game Changer

Narration is a game changer. It’s one of the things we got right in our homeschool. I can say this with confidence because I see in my adult children today that same love for learning that was cultivated through narration early in our homeschool—a love for learning that has carried them through their college studies and has remained with them as they’ve moved on to their adult lives. The beauty of homeschooling is getting to choose learning methods that are best for our children. Ones that actually work and encourage a love of learning. Methods that bring learning to life. Charlotte […]

Notebooking benefits

How Notebooking Benefits Your Child’s Learning

Early in my homeschool journey I discovered that Charlotte Mason’s methods were the most effective way of educating children. So I knew I wanted to apply her principles to my science books, specifically writing living books that delve deep into the subject matter, as well as using time-tested methods such as notebooking, narration, and hands-on activities to increase learning and retention. Charlotte Mason talks about training attention, or bringing the whole mind to bear. Attention happens when a child’s whole mental force is focused on the subject at hand. How could my books not only engage but sustain a child’s attention […]

Immersion Science

Immersion Science

Many educators promote the spiral or survey approach to education, wherein a child is exposed over and over again to minute amounts of a variety of science topics. Those supporting these approaches aim to “expose” the child to science each year giving a bit more information than was given the year before. This method has been largely unsuccessful in public and private schools as the National Center for Education Statistics data indicates that eighth graders are consistently less than 50% proficient in science. There has to be a better way. And there is: immersion science. Educators assume the young child […]

ABC Spelling Blocks

Spelling Solutions for Your Homeschool

Some people leave the womb with a natural inclination toward spelling. For others, spelling is a lifelong struggle. I have children in both categories. With my natural spellers, I don’t think it mattered what curriculum I used. Spelling made sense to them. With my poor speller, who also struggled with dyslexia, well, let’s just say I spent a pretty penny searching for a solution. After years of trying everything under the sun, I fell upon a set of instructions in Charlotte Mason’s Original Homeschool Series. I realized at that moment that the methods used in all the other curricula were […]

Cultivating Creativity

Notebooking: Cultivating Creativity

We all know how important knowledge is, but what about creative expression? Could it be that creativity is the missing link between joy and learning? Albert Einstein said, “It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.” He believed creative expression to be an essential element of all academic fields of study—even science.  The question we must ask is: How can we engage our children’s creativity in order to increase their knowledge? There are many ways to do this, but an important element is the establishment of a student notebook. The notebook is an […]

Homeschool Methodologies

Homeschool Methodologies

There are several philosophies and methodologies that homeschoolers use when educating their children. Some people choose one and follow it all the way through, others mix and match depending on what they want to accomplish, still others begin with one then change their methodologies as the years wear on and they begin to understand more about their family and philosophies. In this post, I will describe some of the most common homeschool methodologies used by families today. Classical Classical homeschoolers follow the Classical Greek model of the Trivium. They divide learning into three stages based on an average child’s cognitive […]

The Truth about Spelling

The Truth about Spelling

Over the years, I’ve shared my story at conferences and workshops about how God led me to teach my son to spell. As a result, I’ve received many queries about the program that I used. In essence, I did not use a program, but a procedure. I want to share it with you in the hopes that it will help your struggling speller. The first thing to know is that reading and spelling are two different skills. If you try to use the procedure you learned for reading with spelling (phonics) you will be a horrendous speller. Children should be […]

Mom helping child with homework

Laying a Foundation

Laying a foundation of character is essential if you are to successfully move your child from dependence upon you as the teacher to independence and self learning.      Obviously, children that are not yet reading need a lot of supervision. The same is true when teaching elementary students new concepts. In addition, when a student is struggling with a concept, such as long division, the teacher (though she may have moved into the role of coach) will need to stand over the child as he works through the formula until he completely understands the algorithm and can do it […]

Narration

Narration

Narration is one of those treasures that, if done consistently, has potential for great reward. I believe it’s foundational to a successful homeschool education, reaping benefits far into the high school years. Here are some questions one homeschool mom asked about narration: My oldest is going into first grade and is reading probably at a second grade level. One of my goals this coming year is to establish the habit of narration. How should I schedule it? Should I pick a book (like Aesop’s fables) and have him narrate from it once a week? Or do I have him narrate […]

Why Notebooks

Why Notebooks?

Over the years homeschool moms have asked, “Why notebooks?” And to that I would have to say creating and using notebooks was one of the most rewarding and fulfilling things we did in our homeschool. It honestly kept me afloat and from feeling discouraged or ineffective. In fact, notebooks even gave me a sense of accomplishment, a much needed sentiment in the ongoing homeschool journey. We usually used notebooks in place of worksheets, even when the curriculum provided them. Fill in the blank worksheets with word searches, matching games, and the like were unable to engage my children the way creating […]

Short Lessons for Homeschool Success

Short Lessons for Homeschool Success

When it comes to passion for a child’s educational success, nothing rivals a homeschool mom. We diligently research the latest methodologies and put to test the newest curriculum. We devour books on education, creating sophisticated lessons based on newfangled ideas. Yet Charlotte Mason found amazing success using the age old, timeless and simple tool of short lessons. Lessons that span a mere 10 minutes. She advocated that short lessons not only train the child to pay attention, they increase the child’s retention of the material. And Charlotte Mason was right. Studies reveal the average human attention span when learning new […]

The Habit of Attention

The Habit of Attention

One of the most profound—and often under appreciated—methods of Charlotte Mason is her teachings on habits. How I wish I had known of this extremely influential concept when my children were younger, before they formed the bad habits we invested a lot of time undoing. Mason addresses the fascinating subject of attention: The Habit of Attention. She explains that a child should stay focused on a subject and not allow his mind to wander hither and thither with every interesting thought that pops into his brain. The thing is, our children have fascinating thoughts and ideas, but they must be […]

Nature Study

Nature Study

We’ve all heard this and that about how children need to get out in nature. Charlotte Mason advocated for nature study ruthlessly—demanding we gather our kids and a book and go sit outside somewhere natural, even if we have to take a twenty minute train ride every day to get there. She was passionate about letting children experience God’s beautiful creation, so Mason’s brilliant, high achieving students did the nature thing. They excelled academically, though they spent the greater portion of their lives outdoors. Recent research shows us that Mason had the right idea. As it turns out, her students […]

Narration: A Foundational Technique

Narration – A Foundational Educational Technique

“What do you remember from what I just read?” I ask the gathering of children around me. Looking to the four year old, I encourage him to begin. “I learned that the sun is ninety-three miles away. It’s so far away that it would take a lot of years to fly there in a spaceship.” The nine year old child draws a deep breath and rapidly explains, “It’s ninety-three-million miles away and it takes eight minutes for its light to reach us here on earth which means that we always see what the sun looked like eight minutes ago and […]

Nature Walks that Work

Nature Walks That Work!

So we were all told that nature walks were part of Charlotte Mason’s education. Upon reading this, many of us promptly bought Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study, packed our pencils and nature journals—one set for each child—and drove to some lovely nature spot to explore and enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. We hoped to open our children’s eyes to the magnificence surrounding them and encouraged them to pick something to sketch or about which to write. Unfortunately, our family found it rather dull after a half hour or so. All we saw in nature was an endless trail of weeds, dirt, […]