Whenever I am presented with a blank sheet of paper, the possibilities seem endless and the choices impossible.  So it is with this new adventure, the first entry on my blog.  I am at once excited and baffled about how and where to begin.

First, let me start by introducing  myself.  I am Elizabeth.  I reside with my family in Utah, but this has not always been my home.  I am a Southern girl, a transplant from North Carolina.  It was while living in North Carolina, after the birth of our first child, a magnificently beautiful baby girl (Sarah Elizabeth), that I first heard of homeschooling.  Oh, I had heard brief mention of it before that, but associated it with extreme lifestyles and the like.  It was at a local womens conference at my church where I met my first, honest-to-goodness homeschooler.  She gave a mini-class on the subject and the whole hour I sat there mesmerized.  As she discussed the different philosophies of homeschooling, as well as some practical advise, a window opened in my mind and I began to see limitless possibilities.  I knew then and there that I wanted this for my daughter.

Another child was born (Robert Randall), we moved to Utah and a few years went by with many family challenges that convinced me to put my daughter in school.  She had a successful Kindergarten year, but another move and new school shocked me back to my original sensibilities about homeschooling.  I'll never forget walking into my daughter's class and catching the children sitting and watching endless cartoons on the class TV, because the teacher said the children were tired of learning.  That did it for me.  I pulled Sarah out of school.

I was not quite prepared to suddenly begin homeschooling, but since my daughter had been the youngest in her class (her birthday is right before the cut off date for class enrollment - so I had been given the option of waiting a year to begin her schooling), I figured it would not hurt her to come home even if we were getting off to an uncertain start.  From that point on, I spent every free moment I had immersing myself in books on the philosopies of education, especially for homeschooling, homeschooling how-to's and surfing the web for any and everything on the subject.  It was during this process that I was first introduced to the teaching philosophies of Charlotte Mason.

What first attracted me to the teachings of Charlotte Mason?  A number of things instantly fascinated me.  Her gentle way of teaching Language Arts through copywork, dictation and narration, her reliance on great works of literature to uplift and inspire the mind, her usage of "living books" to teach most subjects, immersing the child in a time period rather than forcing the memorization of dry dates and facts, all convinced me that this was the approach I needed to cultivate my children's potential.  I was also delighted by her strong emphasis on the Fine Arts.

It has taken me a couple of years to fully put into practice Charlotte Mason's teaching methods.  Recently, we have begun using the free Ambleside Online curriculum, with great results in our homeschool.  We are excited, eager learners - all of us - as we implement these methods and make Education :

"An Atmosphere; a Discipline; and a Life" (Charlotte Mason).

Come back often and share our journey with us!

Love and blessings,

Elizabeth