• August 10, 2009 - A Charlotte Mason Education

I'm pondering this next year in our little homeschool. I want to put together a lesson plan for the entire year. I'm a bit of a rebel and I can't just go with Sonlight or Winter Promise. Why pay to have someone plan something out for you when you won't quite like how they tell you to teach anyhow?? Well, actually, it would probably make my life simpler if I did, but I have a passion for teaching and I just can't do it.

So, I'm here again, pondering what a Charlotte Mason education is. I was reading an article tonight (which shall remain nameless) about how a Charlotte Mason education really is classical and what the author was "concerned" about regarding a Charlotte Mason education. Yet, I believe that the author was concerned about these issues because she hasn't read (and re-read) Charlotte's work herself, nor has she ever experienced children coming alive to learning, alive to literature by being set free from worksheets. Oh, man, I have, and I just can't go back to worksheets. Yet, I admit it is a struggle to put together a lesson plan that is to my liking.

Here are some of my thoughts on education and what I think would be an ideal education, most of it based off Charlotte Mason, but gleaned a little bit from here and there as well.

First off, the Robinson Curriculum appeals to me, not for breadth of subjects, for sure, but for it's goal of teaching the children to teach themselves. Also, because it is a literature rich education. Yet, a richer education (a liberal education) would be more of my goal.

I start with Phonics. Bob Books and other phonics readers. Also, sometimes I'll have a young one read a line of a book I am reading to them, even if it is a little hard for them, just enough so I don't lose their attention. I also have phonics cards from Abeka and some phonics sheets I copied from Writing Road To Reading, which I borrowed from the library. I thought that text to be a particularly helpful phonics program. I was personally unhappy with Phonics Pathway which I found repetitive and babbly. For spelling (and also a little phonics) Spelling Workout A, B, C, etc. seemed solid, but seemed like busy work for my older girl (who is more in the gifted category). I may use Spelling Workout with my second girl, who is a slow reader, but who loves repetition. We'll see. But, I'm not sure that kind of program is universally needed. If a child catches on quickly to phonics and spelling, then I think what Charlotte Mason recommends is sufficient (to note each instance of a spelling mistake and correct it). I note the phonics rule or a hint on how to remember the spelling for my kids and they do really well with spelling, including my step-daughter and my non-reader, ironically.

I like what The Well-Trained Mind (classical education) teaches about rotation of subjects. I don't, however, believe in their emphasis on worksheets, nor their strict interpretations of educational stages. For history you rotate through:

• Ancient History (about 5000 B.C. - 400 A.D.)
• Medieval History (400 A.D. to 1600 A.D.)
• Renaissace to Early Modern History (1600 A.D. to 1850 A.D.)
• Modern History (1850 A.D. to Present).

It seems to me the Charlotte Mason resources out there seem a little weak on Ancients and Modern and it will be up to me more to figure out how to teach these and still follow a living book. I'd love for input from other Charlotte Mason educators out there on how they cover these topics without going to a source like Sonlight.

For science, Classical Education generally has you follow the following rotation:

• Biology/Botany
• Earth Sciences
• Physics
• Chemistry

I love the God's Design For Life books and they are written in a friendly non-textbook manner and are interesting and also have fun activities at the end of each chapter. We spent two years on Biology and are now moving into Earth Sciences. I don't believe in the concrete separation of learning stages, but I do believe that covering topics in such a way that the topics are covered thoroughly and covered at least twice during the years at home. I also believe if our children are awoken to real learning, and not turned off by long, dry, and/or lifeless lessons, that in the end they will be better off for it, not because they will know more facts that the child down the street, but because they will be lifelong learners.

So here is a list of subjects I plan on covering this next year:

• Bible study (my plan is simple to read through the Bible)
• Math (I use Saxon. I keep it to two worksheets a day so the lesson isn't overly long, and also do natural math activities - for instance counting by groups of 2's, 3's, 4's with beans - pre-multiplication, etc.)
• Science (We do lots of nature walks and talk about what we see. We also use God's Design For Life as a backbone, which I've found to be pretty un-textish.)
• Typing (I want my eight year old to learn to type - www.typing-lessons.org offers a free typing tutorial. I think once a week lessons would be helptful.)
• Copywork/Writing - daily copywork assignments, leading into cursive lessons with my eight year old this year, also I think a weekly creative writing assignment would be helpful to add this year for 3rd grade. Give her a topic, have her write, critique it in a positive manner. How To Teach Your Child To Write is an excellent book to read for ideas on how to encourage your child in writing.
• History/Literature/Oral Narration - reading and oral narration of what has been read - reading lists from Ambelside Online and An Old Fashioned Education
• Poetry - we plan on memorizing one poem or one stanza of a poem each week (my oldest child really enjoys doing this)
• Spelling - track all mispelled words in a spelling notebook, also http://www.everydayspelling.com/spellinglist/ has basic spelling lists 1st-8th grade broken down into 36 week chunks
• Grammar - I am going to continue to orally review Simply Grammar by Karen Andreola with my girls. When they are older I may seek a more thorough Grammar text, but the idea is to not make Grammar too repetitive.
• Language - I am planning on doing some Latin work this year, with Rummy Roots (Latin card game), a Latin textbook, and/or an online text.
• Geography - I've ordered some map books. I want to make some lapbooks about various places and base it off some reading we are doing.
• Music - Violin primarily, if I can find a new teacher for Natalie. She lost her old teacher.
• Art - I love the Artistic Pursuits books. Also, I have picked up a few books about various artists to do artist studies. I'd like to do a few lapbooks on those as well.
• Physical Education - Dance primarily. We have decided for my sanity's sake not to do soccer this year.
• Handicrafts - Sewing, gardening, and photography all count.

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