The exerpt below was very encouraging to me, as a wife and mother striving to have the "perfect" Charlotte Mason school.  Many frustrations have grown out of accomplishing this seemingly impossible task.  This was originally posted on the CmSeries list a few weeks ago, and is reposted here with Carol's permission.  You may visit Carol's blog at www.homeschoolblogger.com/azschoolmarm/

Shanna,

Beth makes a good point when she closes her post saying that Miss
Mason didn't have to contend with the duties of housewife and mother.
This is so true as is the fact that in her schools, 6-days was the
norm.

I am reading 'The Narnian' by Alan Jacobs (a biography of CS Lewis)
and in it he shares a quite a bit about traditional English Schools
during the early part of the last century. While Lewis did not have a
CM-education, he certainly did have a classical one (or CT). I was
struck by the length of Jack's day, which began early in the am and
lasted until late at night. Jack studied history, philosophy and
literature in the am, had a break for lunch, then spent free time
until tea (usually this meant more reading or taking a long walk).
Then he studied languages after dinner until bedtime.

If you look at CM's programmes, her students did do a lot of studying
outside of that "am" period. They read in the evenings and also took
classes on Saturdays. Their days and their lives revolved around
their studies -- they did nothing else. Keep in mind that the British
school system was created for the upper class of society. I know that
CM was very sympathetic towards education for all children and I don't
mean to say that she only taught the priveledge set, but most of what
you do see in her writings is IMO characteristic of private schooling.

In my "pseudo-Victorian" homeschool, I imagine my life as follows:

All I have to do is teach my children -- I am awoken in the 7, I get
dressed and go to breakfast (which I didn't prepare). I then scuddle
the children upstairs to do their lessons. At noon, a bell rings and
down we go for lunch (again, I didn't prepare it). After lunch, we
all go out for a long (hour to hour and half) walk through our gardens
or along the river. There is no rush, no bustle, and when we are
done, I send the children off to work on handiwork or to read on their
own (I take to my correspondence or read some poetry or my favorite
novel). The bell rings and it is now time for tea (brought to us in
the parlor). The family gathers for tea time and I read out loud to
them or I have one of the older children read and then the children
take turns narrating. After tea, we do music lessons or language
lessons. A bell rings again and dinner is ready (dad is home). We
eat a leisurely meal, discuss great books and the days doings and
leave the table (with no dishes to be done). The children sit beside
the fire and we all read or work on small projects or play games.
There is no TV. Maybe one of the children recites a poem or plays a
piece of music or they re-inact some play from the day's reading for
dad. We head off to bed and get ready to start the day again
tomorrow. This same thing happens every day for six days and on
Sundays we go to church and spend the day at rest.

This is my picture of what kind of home schooling I would like. It is
not a true representation of our home school because frankly I don't
have someone to wait on me and take care of my home. I have other
demands on my time besides home schooling too (work, church, parents)
so I have to compartmentalize my day to include a little bit of
everything. We also live in the least-walk friendly place in the US
(the desert SW) so our days are spent indoors in summer. No matter how
much I desire to have a "CM-school," I have come to the understanding
that I can only attempt to create a "Carol-school." I can only make a
school that fits the parameters of my life and that takes into
consideration the specifics of our day, our home and our family. It
incorporate methods that are classical but in reality it is simply
a "shadow" of what we think of when we say "classical" or "Charlotte
Mason." It is my own version and because it is uniquely mine, it will
never match up to anyone elses, or to Miss Mason's schools.

Just to give you some comfort, our school begins at 10 and usually
finishes by 2. Some days this gets stretched out and other days we do
finish on time. We do what needs to be done and we try and keep a
fluid, natural flow to our day. We do not do timed segments and while
we do work at our own pace, we do not dawdle or allow day-dreaming.
Yes, I remind my son often and ask repeatedly "Have you finished
Latin, yet? or How is Westward Ho! coming?" But some of this is
simply habits and some is the age (a teen) so I don't mind doing it.
I am looking towards the future and am not so much concerned about
what we do today. I know that in time my son will be able to read and
study on his own and will be able to manage his time well. The little
steps we take today will make great progress over time.

~Carol H. :o)