Samut Saring Ceylon - CM Pinoy: Keeping 'em short and sweet

Fri 26 Sep 2008 - CM Pinoy: Keeping 'em short and sweet

When the children were younger and we have never heard of short lessons yet, we spent most of our day trying to cover all the lessons scheduled for the day from an instruction guide. For sure, we did complete all the lessons for the year even before the term was up. But it wasn't a smooth process and we found ourselves exhausted in the end.

Each day could be described by whining, a lot of dawdling and plenty of fussing about. I would find myself nagging them when they lag behind and negative habits start to breed. For whatever reason, I couldn't remember why I didn't adapt short lessons right away. As I have told you, we started adapting CM methods slowly but short lessons were not prioritized. I remember incorporating narration, dictation and copywork at first but would tackle a lesson for about 25-30 minutes when it should be just 10-15 at their age that time. Somehow, I was a doubter of short lessons. I didn't have the confidence if I can really teach enough in 10 to 15 minutes.

We haven't incorporated all of CM methods in our studies yet. We have just started with the short lessons a year ago, but some subjects often take more time to finish than the others. Now that they have grown and matured a bit, the lessons tend to get more difficult which take a longer time period (25-30 minutes each). But I have learned my lesson, which wasn't short and sweet for me for it took me long years to realize. It is indeed important to keep 'em short and sweet. We are now realizing the benefits of applying short lessons. I am no longer struggling if we had to finish a Sonlight Core for more than 36 weeks - took us more than 12 months actually.

Right now, I am hopeful with Fuzzy that we will be able to apply short lessons more. He tends to fuss and dawdle more so shorter lessons will benefit him most. As for Vibrant Vera, she is now capable to learn and study on her own with very little supervision. As for Lil Ruffin, the future is bright that she will have the best short and sweet CM lessons when her time comes.

Here are some links about short lessons, the importance and advantages of applying them in your homeschool. It is applicable in any Filipino family homeschool doing CM methods.

Realistic Charlotte Mason : The Benefits of Short Lessons in the Charlotte Mason Method By Catherine Levison

What Drew Me to a Charlotte Mason Education By Karen Andreola

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