I am doing a weekly study of the Charlotte Mason Home Schooling Series in order to keep me reading through Charlotte Mason's works and so that I can truly implement her powerful philosophies of education in my home school. If you are following along or wish to share about how you are implementing one of the Charlotte Mason principles covered during this week, just leave me a comment or link to your blog entry with Mr. Linky (at the bottom).

Here is this week's summary:

Charlotte Mason Original Homeschooling Series - Volume 1

Home Education - Training and educating children under nine

Part 1 - Some Preliminary Considerations

Charlotte points out that as time went on, women would all the more work, even if not necessitated by finances, just to feel the honor of doing something "useful". But she reminds us that instructing our children in the home is the most important job in society - it determines what kind of man or woman they will become.

Love is the first way we educate our children.

Studying about the rearing and education of our children is of utmost importance so that we can be effective in our profession.

The training and education of children follows certain laws. If we follow those laws we will raise mature children. If we don't follow those laws, then serious physical and mental shortcomings are inevitible. In order to get good results, we need to learn about the laws which govern our children's development.

How childrearing usually goes: Parents have lofty ideals. Yet they are excited to see the child's developing personality, but as the child becomes more independent, they leave the child alone.

In the Divine plan the family is the unit of the nation, not the individual, but the family.

Charlotte goes on to talk about old-school schooling where pain was inflicted for every offense, children were to be tough, children were to do the bidding of their elders. Then, she talks about the "new" style of education where adults give way to children and the world is made for children. In Charlotte's view both these styles of education were wrong.

The child is being educated by everything he does - eating, drinking, playing, reading, working, etc. - but he is unaware of it.

Charlotte Mason is trying to establish and explain the natural law of education and her own method of education, but she warns us that good methods turn into mere systems all too easily. Educational systems work.  A system teaches you to follow certain rules until the habit of doing certain things is full established. Yet there are limitations of systems. Rather, the whole of a child's existence should be used to educate the child.

Three Biblical Commandments

The Bible give us three commandments when it comes to our interactions with children. Do not OFFEND the child. Do not DESPISE the child. Do not HINDER the child. These commandments may be negatives, but if it becomes settled within us what me MAY NOT DO, it is much easier to see what me MUST DO. So, therefore studying and cementing God's commands about children, is vitally important.

OFFENDING

OFFEND - to a stumbling block into front of someone, to trip someone up

Here are some ways we put up stumbling blocks in our children's lives:

Charlotte talks about how children are born innocent and law abiding. She tells us that it is by making light of little tresspasses (by letting little bad habits go on) that children become resistant.

Our example to our children is very important as well: "if his mother does what she chooses, of course he will do what he chooses, if he can; and henceforward the child's life becomes an endless struggle to get his own way."

She says if the child feels the parent is law-compelled, then he will be meek. Most of the time, reasoning with a child simply does not work and undermines parental dignity.

Charlotte points out that sacrificing our children's health through unwholesome food or other unwholesome habit (lack of exercise, too much TV, too many video games come to mind), is putting a stumbling block in our child's education as well. These things make our children dumb in a way that they will not be able to fully overcome later in life.

Another way to put a stumbling block in your child's life, is for a child to feel unloved. Make sure to take time each child now. Don't wait till they grow older, it may be too late.

DESPISING

"However much we may delight in them, we grown-up people have far too low an opinion of children."

Watch out who spends time with your children. If they have caregivers with negative attributes - even if they seem unrelated to the care they give your children, know that your child is likely to pick up on those attributes.

"To laugh at ugly tempers and let them pass because the child is small, is to sow the wind." Not dealing with each issue at the first offense is a way of despising our children.

HINDERING

Hindering is keeping children from coming to Him. Don't teach them that the things of God are more for adults or parents. Teach them God's way from their youth.

Other Considerations

Our brain needs exercise, rest, and nutrition to work properly.

Our brain needs "the daily habit of appropriate moral and mental work." Just as important as work is rest. We should alternate the work and the rest of our brain. We should pay careful attention to when we plan activities. For instance, in the afternoon after lunch, might be a better time for outdoor time. Also, once a child has done math and they are getting distracted, you could switch to a subject like history, which engages imagination (a different part of the brain).

Having dinner together and including the children in the conversation is a great way for parents to train children in manners and morals, and to encourage bonding of the family.

Charlotte goes on quite a while about the importance of air to the blood of the child. We can relate. Isn't a good dose of country air, no matter the weather, invigorating?

She mentions that sunshine is important too. We now know that Vitamin D produced in our bodies when we've had real sunlight, plus the anti-depressant effects of the light itself, is vital for our health.

Charlotte mentions that we should be allowed to sweat well and that a daily bath with some scrubbing opens up pores and gets more impurities out. Has anyone else heard of this being an issue in current day literature? Chrlotte encourages parents to dress their children in breathable clothing like cotton and wool for this reason.

Charlotte goes on to talk about religious people. She notes how often those that don't have religion, have better morals. She says this is because they are following God's natural laws and whether we recognize our Lawgiver or not, following His laws produces good results. She points out that those that study and recieve scripture observe the MOST IMPORTANT law of all. But we should have good habit and receive Christ's sacrifice both.

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The more I get into Charlotte Mason principled education, the more I like it.

I started out with Classical Education, but I think it was just toooooo....structured and "too much" for me. Plus, it totally wouldn't have worked for my second daughter. But, my hats off to those that teach classically!

I'm also intrigued by the Robinson method - because it is also literature rich - and I love the concept of my kids teaching themselves! But, I think, all by itself the Robinson curriculum would be too narrow, since it doesn't incorporate other languages, art, nature study, handicrafts, physical education, or life skills into it's curriculum. To my understanding these are things the students can pursue on their own if they want, but they aren't to be a part of lessons. I'd love to understand more about how students teach themselves...but overall I would identify myself as an imperfect and newbie Charlotte Mason educator.

Charlotte Mason style learning incorporates a lot of reading - but not just any reading - real, living, not dumbed-down books. We are not to bring down the world to the level of the child, but we are to bring the child to the richness of the world. In the early grades there is an emphasis on reading aloud and verbally narrating (summarizing) what was just read. Topics, ideally (I have a hard time with this) should be short (15-20 minutes long) and varied. By varied I mean you switch to very different types of studies to keep interest in schoolwork up. So...

• 15-20 minutes reading and narration
• 15-20 minutes copywork
• 15-20 minutes art or art study
• 15-20 minutes math
• 15-20 minutes or longer nature study
• 15-20 minutes more reading
• 15-20 minutes science
• 15-20 minutes free writing or verbal grammar.

This is just a general idea. It's flexible, but the principles are powerful. A great (and FREE) website to check out in Ambelside Online - you can get lots if not most of the materials for free online (classic books).

My Study Of Charlotte Mason This Week

I am planning to take one chapter of the Charlotte Mason Original Homeschooling Series and do a narration (book report) of my own each week. This will motivate me to work through the books. If you want to leave a link where you are incorporating something about what I am reviewing on any given week, feel free to do so with Mr. Linky - or just leave a comment. I may not have anyone take me up on it, but I want to give you the opportunity if you want.

Here is this week's summary:

Charlotte Mason Original Homeschooling Series - Volume 1

Home Education - Training and educating children under nine

Preface

There is a natural law of education much like the law of gravity. It permeates the child's ENTIRE life - leaving no part untouched.

Goals of education:

• Science as a staple
• The teaching of Latin
• The teaching of modern languages
• The teaching of math
• Mastery of handicrafts
• Writing skills, which are dependent on:
  • Knowledge of History
  • Knowledge of Literature
• Mastery of life skills
• Technical training

Yet, we need to go beyond these goals to follow the Law of Education.

Priciples Of The Law Of Education

• Authority and obedience are natural and essential to education
• But, children need to be respected as individuals with their own unique personalities (tailor the education to the child)
• There are 3 main educational priciples:
  1. Children need a proper atmosphere to learn (do not bring the atmosphere down to the level of the child)
  2. Children need good habits to learn
  3. Children need living ideas to learn (not dry, lifeless ideas)
• The child should be prompted to seek after knowledge on their own, and shouldn't be spoon fed ideas
• Provide a full and generous curriculum but take care to help your child connect the dots - understand the whys and whens and hows. (For History I think homemade timelines do this.)
• Children should be taught the difference between "I want" and "I will". We can desire something but not have the will to learn it. In order to learn something better it is helpful to turn to learning something different and/or interesting. Then, later turning back to the original thing we werew trying to learn or do.
• Teach children logic & teach them to carefully and discerningly think through ideas
• Our spiritual life is not supposed to be seperate from any of our studies, but we should seek the Divine in all that we do.

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I know I will have to add to this list. But, today I sat and wrote down what a CM style homeschool means to me. I think if I let go of society's expectations and really concentrate on the love of learning that both myself and my children will be better for it. And, Charlotte Mason was one of the most inspirational educators in terms of inspiring a love of real learning that there has been. I struggle some days with my desire to follow a natural learning pattern and want the concreteness of checking off the list from the box of curriculum. But, Charlotte Mason style learning is right for me and my kids. We have such a variety of interests - it just fits. Plus, I've always been a self-learner - a trait I want to pass on to my kids.

What A Charlotte Mason Homeschool Means To Me

• It means I don't worry so much about my kids doing reports or writing a novel (at least until they are in High School).
• It means learning about a wide variety of topics that both I and my children are interested in.
• It means most of our lessons are oral or hands-on and that there is less tangible busy-work to save and show to others.
• It means I value QUALITY OVER QUANTITY. (In reading, copywork, handicrafts, art, atheletics, music study, nature study, poetry, science experiments, bible study, and math, etc.)
• It means learning and thinking is a family lifestyle and we talk about things we are learning all the time.
• It means reading A LOT of high quality (living - rather than dry as bones) books.
• It means slowing down my life.
• It means enjoying the natural world.
• It means allowing my kids to be kids.
• It means trusting that soaking my children in quality literature and encouraging their love for learning will produce better results in the long run, than drilling and busy-work and sentence diagramming.
• It means realizing my chidlren will learn to write properly if they read and are read a lot of quality literature and are encouraged to study things on their own.
• It means realizing the value of handicrafts in my children's education.
• It means widening my definition of handicrafts to fit our interests. My definition of handicrafts are simply skills done with our hands and our creativity, that would be handy skills to have and that give us and our children a creative and a physical outlet. Some examples of handicrafts include:
  • Photography
  • Sewing
  • Knitting
  • Basket Making
  • Cooking
  • Pottery
  • Carpentry
  • Plumbing
  • Computer Assembly
  • Car Repair
  • Gardening
  • Electrical Work

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Beauty And The Beast Narration

I remember reading Beauty And The Beast as a child, and being sorely disappointed when the popular Beauty And The Beast movie came out. The two stories are nothing alike. My girls and I read the original Beauty and the Beast yesterday and they loved it. I had them read two pages each and I read the rest.

The reading of the original is pretty challenging, but they were so curious about the story that I think they really enjoyed it. I would stop them periodically in the reading and ask them what a phrase or a word meant.

Another thing that happened spontaneously with the reading that the girls (the 6 and 9 year old) really seemed to enjoy, was an acting exercise. I asked the girls what a word meant (an emotion) and asked them to act it out. The girls acted shy and silly, but I could tell they enjoyed it. I was asked by the nine year old if we could do this every day. I knew I stumbled upon some effective learning tool. Later, I had them draw their own Beauty And The Beast characters.

Broccoli & Hummingbirds

We have been having quite the cold snap. We planted Broccoli starts a couple of weeks back, knowing they are supposed to be cold weather tolerant, as long as there wasn't a deep freeze. Then, for most of a week, we had snow. You can see my picture below of snow on March 29. We live a little higher than town at 600 feet, but usually we are free and clear of any such weather by this time of year. Last night we had a deep freeze, I'm afraid, as it dipped to 24 degrees F. I hope the Broccoli survived.

The Hummingbirds seemed extra hungry because of the cold, as well. We hadn't hung up our feeders yet this year and usually hang them up before now. This morning, a cute little hummingbird flew up to my window and looked inside. He seemed to be looking all over. Then he flew to the other side of the house and looked in our front door. I figured I better get the feeders up. And, right away he made his way to the feeders.

Here is a pic:

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