Parents and Children: A Review

So, I told you here that I would try to share a bit with you about my summer reading.  I told you about Mere Motherhood already.  Today, I'd love to tell you a bit about Parents and Children.

 

Parents and Children is Charlotte Mason's second volume.  I picked it up this summer because it was one of the remaining two hold-outs of her six-volume series that I had not read yet.  (Volume 5, Formation of Character, is now the last hold-out.  Hopefully sometime in the next year I'll be able to get to that one, so that I can say that I've read them all. J  I started reading the Volumes in 2011, I think.  Take heart, dear Mama feeling intimidated by those six volumes.  Slow and steady wins the race!)   It is really a series of stand-alone essays, each somewhat distinct from the others.   That said, there is still a definite theme that runs through all of them and a 'big picture' idea that I am taking away.

 

What is that idea, you may ask?  Very simply this:  Parental responsibility is to provide the child with nourishing, vital, ideas and train him in good habits – and to do this in cooperation with the Holy Spirit.  That last bit is so key.  We have the responsibility to plant the seeds, to keep the soil well-watered, to nurture the plants along – but we can't make them grow.  Ultimately, it is the grace of God poured out over the hearts of our children that will bring the growth.  Charlotte Mason puts it this way:

 

"The object of lessons should be in the main, twofold: to train a child in certain mental habits, as attention, accuracy, promptness, etc. and to nourish him with ideas which may bear fruit in his life…

 

Every habit has its beginning.  The beginning is the idea which comes with a stir and takes possession of us….

 

…the fact that God the Holy Spirit is Himself the Supreme Educator dealing with each of us severally in the things we call sacred and those we call secular.  We lay ourselves open to the spiritual impact of ideas, whether these be conveyed by the printed page, the human voice, or whether they reach us without visible sign."  (p.229-230)

 

In Mere Motherhood, Cindy Rollins expressed a very similar idea this way:

 

"You can't fight your children into the Kingdom. You can pray for them, and you can tell them stories, and you can love them."  (p.130)

 

In so doing, Charlotte Mason tells in at the closing of her book, we do much to advance the Kingdom of Christ.

Mere Motherhood: A Review

So maybe I'm a little late to the party, as there are already a fair number of reviews for Cindy Rollins' new book floating around out there.  But late to the party or no, I'm going to throw my thoughts out there into cyberspace too.  If you haven't yet been convinced by the reviews of others that you ought to grab a copy of Mere Motherhood and read it, perhaps this one will tip you over the edge.  Because really, you should.

 

Mere Motherhood is a 'lighter' read – it is not dense or heavy.  I read it in two evenings while unable to sleep due to jet-lag after our epic West Coast trip.   Parts of it were heart-wrenching.  Other parts were laugh-out-loud funny.  And yet, even though it was an 'easy' read, it was also profound.  I came away reminded of my high calling as a mother, and yet not in a way that discouraged me or made me feel like I can't live up to some perceived standard.  I won't.  There are no perfect families, after all.  But there is grace and redemption for that.

 

This isn't a 'parenting' book in the practical sense.   It's a memoir.  Cindy tells us her story – the joys, the heartaches, the regrets, the things she doesn't regret, and what she learned along the way.  I came away from reading it convicted but encouraged, ready to face the challenges of motherhood with renewed vigor and confidence.  Maybe confidence isn't the right word – because I'm more aware than ever that I. can't. do. this.  But I know the One who holds me and my whole family in His hands.

 

I have mostly have given up reading practical parenting advice books, because mostly they just make me feel like I can't live up to the standard they set, with their lists of dos and don'ts.  Maybe that's a failing on my part.  But reading Cindy's book was different.  In reading it, I experienced for myself the power of story.   In You Are What You Love (also worth reading!), James KA Smith says this:

           

"Story isn't just the what of Christian worship; it is also the how…Our imaginations are captured poetically, not didactically.  We're hooked by stories, not bullet points. The lilt and cadence of poetry have the ability to seep down into the fine-grained regions of our imagination in a way that a dissertation never could.  The drama and characters of a novel stick with us long after the argument of a book has been forgotten." (p.106-107)

 

Stories get under our skin.  They form us – inspire us – change us, in a way that the lists of dos and don'ts can't.   Charlotte Mason was on to this idea too, which is why she encouraged the use of well-written narratives in place of textbooks as the backbone of her curriculum.   Cindy's book – her story – did for me the very thing that I hope a rich, literary education will do for my children.

 

The only drawback to Mere Motherhood: at the end, Cindy spends a couple of pages listing the titles of books that have had some kind of formative influence on her.  I've only read about half of them….

 

Good thing my sweet hubby just got me some more bookcases at Ikea, huh?

On the Eve of a New School Year

It's that time of year again.  My Facebook feed is starting to blow up with first day of school pictures from various places all around the country.  Around these parts some of the private schools have already begun, and the public schools are gearing up to do so next week (I think?  I'm not entirely sure.  I guess I'll find out when the big yellow bus starts circulating the neighborhood again…)  And tomorrow, our family will jump on the 'back-to-school' bandwagon too. (Back to homeschool that is. While I can't say I've never contemplated sending my children off on the big yellow bus, that bus comes through my neighborhood at 6:30 in the morning, so mostly I don't contemplate it too seriously.  I don't know about you, but we don't actually get up that early….)

 

I did a fair amount of reading this summer.  Included in that reading was Charlotte Mason's second volume Parents and Children, James KA Smith's You Are What You Love, and Cindy Rollins' brand new book Mere Motherhood.  The only one of those that I had planned on reading was Parents and Children.  The other two were new releases that I couldn't quite resist waiting on, despite the number of books still languishing in my to-be-read basket.  More about all of those books in the weeks to come, I hope.  In very brief summary, all of them talk about the importance of nourishing our children with good ideas, training them in good habits, and the way those ideas and habits form their affections and influence the people they become (although coming at that theme from different angles).   All of them gave me a great deal of food for thought.

 

Then, last weekend we were at our church's annual family-style retreat.   Our bishop came to deliver the teaching portion of the retreat – a study of 2 Timothy – and all of a sudden all of the ideas that had been floating about in my mind from my reading this summer started coming together.

 

Have you noticed in Second Timothy that more than once, Paul mentions the 'shaping influence' of Timothy's mother and grandmother?  It was their teaching and training in Timothy's formative years that equipped him to live out his calling in the world.  That 'shaping influence' is the Word of God – the Word that is powerful and effective for everything.  And our end (Smith would say our 'telos') is Jesus.  He is our goal.  The One around whom our affections should be ordered.  He is also the One who gives us sustaining grace – grace for every moment.  Grace to continue with patience and perseverance even in the face of severe trials and testing.  (Cindy's book is a memoir of how these ideas played out in her family.)

 

At the end of the final teaching session on Sunday morning, we had a communion service.  In the Anglican liturgy, at the end of the service, we are commissioned to go back out into the world with these words: And now Father, send us out into the world to do the work You have given us to do, to love and serve you as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord…

 

One of my children – the one who, if I'm honest, is the one that I find the most difficult to parent most of the time – was right there, snuggled up against me during that service.  This isn't the first time I've heard those words, as they are part of the liturgy week in and week out.  Nor is it the first time that I've had a child snuggled up in my lap at the point in the service.  But that day, with the words of 2 Timothy still ringing in my ears, and my nose resting against a child's head, I heard them in a new way.   That little one in my lap…and the other two who were scattered in other parts of the room with their friends – they are the work He has given me to do.  That is my mandate: to faithfully train these little ones God has placed in my care.  To nourish them with Good, True, and Beautiful ideas.  To guide them into good habits – liturgies if you will – that will guide their future lives.   To steep them in His Word and point them to Jesus.  To do all of this in cooperation with the Holy Spirit.

 

So tomorrow we embark on a new school year.  I have my books and lists ready to go – ready enough at least.  I'm excited about the new opportunities that the coming year will hold.  And I look forward to sharing some of those plans with you here in this space in the weeks ahead.  But in the midst of new books and new checklists and new supplies and new activities and new schedules….let us not forget the goal that we are aiming for.  The holy task we have been called to.   The sustaining grace we are given to carry it out – grace that is new every morning.  Let's love and serve Him as faithful witnesses right here in our homes.

 

 

Charlotte Mason on Books

"One more thing is of vital importance; children must have books, living books, the best books; the best are not too good for them; anything less than the best is not good enough; and if it is needful to exercise economy, let go everything that belongs to soft and luxurious living before letting go the duty of supplying the books, and the frequent changes of books, which are necessary for the constant stimulation of the child's intellectual life."  (p.279)

 

~Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children

 

See honey, my obsession with books (and therefore need for more bookcases) is TOTALLY LEGIT.  Charlotte Mason SAID SO.

 

This may be my favorite Mason quote yet.

 

Tee-hee.

 

 

 

Getting Started with Ambleside Year One: Is it Enough?

Well friends, here we are.  We started this journey together way back in February (that long ago?  Yes, my friends, that long ago.)  Here we are in the heat of summer and finally wrapping things up.   I hope that those of you still following along have found some little bit of encouragement in what I have written here, and that I have succeeded at least a little in helping you to feel like you CAN do this.  Because you can, Mama.  You've got this.

 

 

For our last coffee chat today (okay if we make that an iced coffee?!), I'd like to offer some thoughts in answer to the question is it enough?

 

Are good books, oral narration, and copywork enough for language arts for my Year One student?  Don't we need spelling and composition curricula too?

 

Is nature study enough for science?  Oughtn't I get a science textbook with experiments and throw that in there too?

 

Is it enough to listen to the music during composer study and look at the paintings during picture study?  Shouldn't we try to read biographies and find out about the style of the artists and correlate it all with history?

 

We finished all our lessons for the day in 2 hours!  Is that really enough?

 

I hear these questions asked by those new to Charlotte Mason's ideas frequently.   I asked them myself as a newbie getting my toes wet in Year One for the first time.  We look around at what our young students – Kindergarteners, First and Second Graders – are doing in the school system, and think that we aren't possibly doing enough. 

 

But guess what Mama: relax.  Yes.  It is enough.

 

Think about it this way: Charlotte Mason tells us that education is the science of relations, and that the ultimate goal is not how much a child knows but how much he cares.  Our goal is to help our students develop relationships with a wide variety of ideas, to help them understand how all of the pieces fit together, and to keep alive their thirst for more. This is true across the board, but it is especially true for our youngest students in the early years of their formal education.

 

A friend and I recently had a Facebook conversation about this.  She had specifically asked that question about composer and artist study – what is the point of that really?  Shouldn't I be trying to do this in a more structured, chronological, art-and-music history kind of way?  This is what I replied to her…a reply that bears repeating here because it answers not only the music-and-art question, but the bigger picture question behind it too:

 

So, composer and picture study - especially in the younger years - isn't meant to be a music (or art) history course. It IS one of those things that they are supposed to make their own connections with. Spending a longer period of time with a certain set of pieces (or paintings) from a specific composer/artist really does help them to develop a relationship with it, and I have found that it does kind of stick with them. It takes a while to see it though. [Michelle] is what - 10 now? We've probably done this style of composer study on 9 or 10 different composers over the past 4 years, and she has made connections like "Handel sounds an awful lot like Bach, mom, did they live around the same time?" (Why yes, my child, they did as a matter of fact...) We've found the same to be true with artist study. Over time - given time to really make a relationship with the artist - they start noticing similarities in style between different artists. And it's THEIR discovery.

I know there is an art history book scheduled in the upper years of AO, and with the foundation of familiarity with a variety of artists from a variety of periods, that's going to be a whole lot more meaningful when they get to it and put a name to the different styles and eras, etc.. I think the same holds true for music study.

One thing I've come to realize is that Charlotte Mason education is sort of a departure from other forms of education in that it is more of a whole-to-parts approach rather than the other way around. We let them know and wonder and delight in things in their younger years - and later on get into the more technical nitty-gritty analytical kind of information. (The same idea behind nature study being the best 'science' for the younger years, because it lays the foundation for higher level science study in the upper years.) So that's really what we're trying to do here. Also - there is a CM quote I love and was reminded of at the recent conference - something along the lines of it is not so much what a child knows, but how much he cares. It matters more that he loves music than knows all the things about it. We are educating for a rich-and-full life and for kids who will leave high school with a thirst to continue to learn for the rest of their lives. We don't necessarily need to cram everything in to those 12 years we have for them at home.

And if we don't have to try to cram everything in to the 12 years that we have with them at home, we *really* don't have to try to cram it all in to Year One.

Relax.

Trust the Process.

And Enjoy the Journey.

                        

From My Commonplace: Feed My Sheep

"We may not despise them, or hinder them, ('suffer little children'), or offend them by our brutish clumsiness of action and want of serious thought; while the one positive precept afforded is 'feed' (which should be rendered 'pasture') 'my lambs', place them in the midst of abundant food."  (p.81)

~Charlotte Mason, A Philosophy of Education (Volume 6)

 

This quote comes from Chapter 5 of Charlotte Mason's sixth volume, on the Sacredness of Personality.  She spends much of this chapter exhorting parents and teachers to remember that children are *persons* and not to treat them in any way that might suggest otherwise.  We aren't to manipulate them or force-feed them or tease them or even merely entertain them.  We are to shepherd them.  We are to guide them to the green pastures of true knowledge and let them feed themselves in those pastures.  It is this steady diet of knowledge for its own sake that will help our children/students grow into fully-alive human beings.

 

This reference to feeding the lambs – shepherding – brought to mind the recent study our church women's group did on Margaret Feinberg's book Scouting the Divine.  In one section of that book, Feinberg observes and discusses the art of shepherding with an actual, modern day shepherd in an effort to better understand some of the references to shepherds and sheep in Scripture.  I flipped back through that section of the book and noted some of the characteristics of good shepherds discussed. 

 

The Shepherd:

            - is gentle, tender, and patient

 

            - knows her sheep individually – their unique personalities and quirks – and deals with them accordingly

 

            - is trusted by the sheep.  The sheep trust the shepherd not to lead them astray and to feed them that which is nourishing – to lead them to healthy, abundant, green pastures.

 

            - leads gently, without pushing.  "Pushing a sheep produces agitation.  But when I go ahead of the flock and call them by name, they follow me peacefully." (p.61)

 

So much food for thought there. 

 

---

My Bookbag This Week:

Devotional: The Daily Office Lectionary Readings and Prayers from The Trinity Mission

 The Rising: Living the Mysteries of Lent, Easter, and Pentecost (Wright)

Theological: On The Incarnation (St. Athanasius, with introduction by CS Lewis)

AO Book Discussion Group: *Between Books*

Personal Choice: The Story of King Arthur and His Knights (Pyle) – Pre-reading for AO Year 5

With my Hubby: Emma (Austen)

Family Read-Aloud Literature: Little Britches (Moody)

 

*I am also reading Charlotte Mason's Volume 6 for a local CM book club, but these meetings are infrequent and so I just read the brief section assigned as our meetings come up.   

 

---

 

 

 

 

Click Here for more Words

 

 

Getting Started with Ambleside Online Year One: Phonics, Math, and Handwriting

Welcome back for another coffee chat, friends.  Today we're finally going to dive in to what you've probably all really been waiting for – making sense of what you see when you open up the Year One curriculum page over on the AmblesideOnline site.   It's taken us awhile to get here – thank you for your patience – but I truly do believe that all that foundational stuff we have been talking about is just that – foundational, necessary.  Even a little bit of background knowledge of Charlotte Mason's philosophy will help you as you start to actually put her ideas into practice.  (By the way, I updated the Introduction post with links to all the posts so far in this series, if you want to go back and check them out.)

 

 

So…go ahead and take a minute to open up the AmblesideOnline Year One Curriculum page and keep that tab open next to you to refer to as you read through this post. 

 

The list looks a little bit long at first glance, but don't get overwhelmed.  I like to divide everything on the curriculum list into three categories – the skill subjects (for Year One, this would include phonics, math, and copywork – perhaps foreign language too if you are planning to include one.  We don't at this level – just the real meeting in the ideal in my home.), the booklist (covering the content areas like history, literature, natural history/science, and geography), and all the beautiful glorious rest (art, music, handicrafts, etc.).   My plan is to tackle one of these areas in each of the next three posts.

 

Today, let's talk about skill subjects.  As an aside, this is one of the things that I love most about the way the AO curriculum is set up.  Because they leave it to you to pick and choose the materials of your choice for these areas, it makes it very, very easy to customize for the needs and ability of your student.  Year One is perfectly appropriate for the brand-new reader starting from the beginning of phonics, for the emerging reader who can read easy readers but not the books scheduled on the reading list yet, or for the advanced reader who is ready to tackle reading some of their own schoolbooks.  I have three children who have all been in different places in reading….and different places in math for that matter…with relation to their AO Year and it has worked well with very little adaptation on my part.  This wouldn't be the case with a grade-leveled, all-inclusive boxed curriculum. 

 

Reading Instruction: You can see over on the Year One page several choices of reading curricula that the Advisory recommends.  We personally have used a combination of Charlotte Mason's methods, Ruch Beechick's methods, and Alphaphonics, depending on the needs of the child.  Plan for a 10-15 minute lesson each day, depending on the attention span of your student.  As your child gains reading confidence and no longer needs daily phonics instruction, you can begin having them read to you out loud daily from a reader.  We particularly have enjoyed the Reading-Literature readers by Harriette Taylor Treadwell for this purpose, and you can see some of our other favorite books for beginning readers here.  Once they have reached the chapter-book stage, I've started having them buddy-read (reading back and forth together, alternating paragraphs) some of the simpler school books with the eventual goal of gradually handing over the bulk of their school reading to them.  But this whole process will very likely take several years!  Don't expect to move through this whole sequence during Year One. J  Just keep moving along with short, consistent lessons at your child's pace.

 

Math: Again, you will see over on the Year One page a link to a list of various math options recommended by the Advisory, as well as links to various articles if you want to delve deeper into how Charlotte Mason taught math.  To be completely honest, this is one area I've not dug too deeply into.  We've simply applied some of Charlotte Mason's other ideas to our math lessons – things like short lessons (not more than 15-20 minutes for a Year One age student, and sometimes less) and using manipulatives to teach a concept and making sure they understand before letting the child loose with workbook exercises.   We tried several math programs (poor guinea pig first child!) before landing on Singapore which we've found to be a good fit for our family and intend to continue with through the elementary years at least. 

 

Copywork: You'll find copywork or penmanship listed under the daily work section on the AO Year One page, with a link to AO's Language Arts scope and sequence which I encourage you to read.   I don't schedule more than about 5 minutes for copywork at this age – even that is sometimes more than my very young students can handle.  Short, consistent lessons are the key to success in this area.  Start with letter formation, and don't expect the child to write more than they can do *well*, even if that means only one or two letters.  Requiring a child to fill a whole sheet with letters tends to lead to sloppy habits, whereas only asking them to do a few and taking their time to use their neatest possible handwriting reinforces the habit of slow, careful work.  All three of my children have used different resources to learn letter formation – so the only advice I have there is to choose a style that you like and go for it, keeping in mind the short lessons and careful work principles.  Once my children mastered basic letter formation, we did away with the handwriting curriculum and just started doing simple copywork – starting with single words, maybe familiar words like family names or words taken from a phonics lesson, and gradually moving to sentences chosen from our school books or poetry.  I've always limited it to the amount that they can do well in about 5 minutes or so and gauged my expectations accordingly rather than requiring a number of words or lines to be copied.

 

So, that's it for today.  Next time, on to the booklist!

I Give You Permission...

Has spring arrived where you live yet?

 

 

It has where we live.  Sunny and temps in the 70s.  In my mind this is perfect weather. 

 

 

Too perfect to stay inside.

 

 

But what about that math lesson?  Don't we need to do that?

 

 

What about squeezing all that reading on the AO list for week 8 into week 8 on the calendar?  

 

 

Relax Mama.  I know you want to be diligent in your children's education.  Me too.

 

 

But pushing too hard at all those things you "should" do without ever taking a break – that leads to burn out.

 

 

Ask me how I know.

 

 

These sunny 70 degree days aren't going to last forever.

 

 

Before you know it they will give way to the sticky humidity and heat of summer.

 

 

We won't want to spend all day outside anymore.  We'll want to stay inside in the air conditioning.

 

 

Which means that we'll have time to pick up the pace again on the math and reading and all those other things.

 

 

We'll be refreshed and ready for it after slowing our pace for a few weeks to enjoy this window of perfect weather.

 

 

Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

 

 

Enjoy these days while they last.

 

 

I give you permission….

 

All photos taken on a recent outing to our local botanical gardens.  We got a great deal on an annual pass.  We'll be back.

 

 

Getting Started with AO Year One: Understanding Narration

Welcome back for another coffee chat, friends.

 

 

I hope that our last installment left you feeling encouraged that you CAN do this.  It's okay if you haven't read everything and don't know it all, and it's even okay if you don't do everything perfectly because none of us do.

 

That said…you do need to start somewhere.  Once you've gained a general overview of CM's ideas, you need to begin to deepening your understanding a little bit at a time.  In the next couple of posts in this series I'd like to suggest a couple of principles that would be good starting places for your further study.  Today let's talk about narration.

 

Very simply put, narration is the act of telling back (orally or, in the case of older students, in writing) what you have heard or read or experienced.  Sounds simple, right?  It is simple, but it is also profound.  In order to narrate, the child must attend to the reading, organize it in his own mind, and reformulate it in his own words.   I have reflected before that narration is akin to translation – translating the ideas of the author into one's own language.  It's harder work than you might think!  Some children take to it like ducks to water, and others really struggle with developing this skill.  Narration is frequently misunderstood and its power underestimated.   It is also absolutely essential to putting Charlotte Mason's philosophy of education into place in your homeschool.  This is why I'd like to suggest to you that deepening your understanding of what narration is, why it is important, and how to help your student develop narration skills is a foundational starting place for further study.

 

Rather than re-invent the wheel, I am going to leave you today with a collection of links that will send you well on your way to a deeper understanding of narration.  Take some time over the next few weeks to read and take notes and ponder.  Feel free to come back and leave your questions in the comments, or hop on over to the Ambleside Online Forum and join the conversation there.

 

Charlotte Mason's Own Words on Narration

Narration Helps from the Ambleside Online Advisory Board with LOTS of links for further study

Karen Glass on Narration

More from Karen Glass on "What's the Point of Narration"

Troubleshooting and Narration from Fisher Academy Part 1 and Part 2

Your Morning Basket Podcast on Narration with Sonya Shafer

The Mason Jar Podcast Interview with Karen Glass (not solely about narration, but she does make some good points with regard to narration to keep in mind)

Brandy Vencel on Narration vs. Discussion

Also, if you haven't already subscribed to Brandy's Newbie Tuesday newsletter, go do that now.  The first issue is all about narration, and I believe you get that immediately when you sign up.

 

Happy Reading, Friends!

 

PS – For those of you who may be looking for an online discussion group to go deeper with CM's principles, it looks like there is a group forming over on the AO Forum to go through Brandy's 20 Principles study beginning in April.  I did this study myself with a group of Forum ladies several years ago and I would say that that was the thing that really cemented my understanding of what CM is all about. I highly recommend this study to you, especially if you don't have access to a local CM study group.  Click here to get more information (you need to be registered on the Forum to access this link).

 

Getting Started with Ambleside Online Year One: You Don't Have To Get Everything Right the First Time

Welcome back for another coffee chat, friend.

 

 

So, have you been diving a little deeper in Charlotte Mason's ideas since we chatted last?  I hope you have, and I hope you've been inspired and encouraged by the ideas you are encountering.  There's a lot to take in though, isn't there?  It can feel a little daunting.  What you start to realize is that Charlotte Mason education, regardless of if you follow the Ambleside Online curriculum or not, is more than just an-open-and-go curriculum.  It's a whole paradigm shift that's likely to change your life and the way you look at the world.  It can be easy to freak out a little bit and want to get it right all at once and then get discouraged when you can't or don't.

 

Guess what: you won't.  Get it all right the first time that is.

 

And guess what else: That's OK.  I don't think anyone gets it all exactly right. 

 

Charlotte Mason's ideals are a worthy goal to shoot for.   But the fact of the matter is that we are all limited by our understanding and our circumstances.    We are all – from the very beginning beginner to the seasoned veteran who has been doing this for 20+ years – on a continuum.  We are all learning and growing in our understanding and implementation of CM's ideas. And we all have those seasons in which certain things need to get laid aside.  So if you are one of those very new newbies…don't compare yourself too much with those who have been at this for a while.  Start where you are and commit yourself to learning and growing as you go. 

 

I'll tell you straight up that we haven't "arrived" yet.  My poor oldest student has been quite the little guinea pig as we've gone along.  My lack of understanding of and trust in Charlotte Mason's methods in the beginning led me to try multiple different supplementary curricula.  She's been inflicted with spelling programs and writing programs and science textbooks with demonstrations and experiments.  None of these things are really in line with CM's vision for these subjects, especially for younger students. And after a while, I discovered that we really didn't need them after all. Copywork and dictation – oral and written narration – nature study – these are really enough.  Did any of this bumbling around on my part really hurt her though?  No, not really.  (Hurt my pocketbook some, but that was the only real harm done!)   We still don't do foreign languages all that well, and don't even aspire to learn multiple foreign languages as was Charlotte's practice in her school.   I'm very haphazard about habit training too.  That's not to say we don't do it, it just doesn't look all neat and packaged as it appears to be in CM's writings.  And I'm not comfortable with watercolor paints, so we use colored pencils or watercolor pencils in our nature journals - I figure its better that we keep them with pencils rather than waiting until I can figure out the dry brush watercolor technique that Charlotte Mason's students used in their journals.  That's not to say that we can't learn eventually, but in the meantime...that's what it is. 

 

I don't tell you these things to give you an excuse to do things poorly.  I do tell you these things because I want you not to be afraid to jump in, even if you only know a little right now.  You will learn and grow over time right alongside your children.

 

Just do it, my friends. You'll be glad you did.

Getting Started with AO Year 1: Getting to Know Charlotte Mason

So, friend, are you ready to get started?  If you haven't already read the Introduction to this series, you can click over and read it here.  And then come back for today's coffee-chat: Getting to Know Charlotte Mason.

 

 

So first things first.  If you click over to the Ambleside Online Year One page and open up the booklist.  The very first thing you see is this:

 

Note: These booklists and curriculum suggestions are incomplete without a thorough understanding of Charlotte Mason's ideas and methods. We cannot emphasize enough that you take time to familiarize yourself with her philosophy by reading her books.

 

And then you might freak out a little when you realize that Charlotte Mason wrote 6 rather thick books.  And she wrote them 100 years ago.  And you are still suffering from baby brain.

 

Please don't slam your computer lid and run away now.  The fact of the matter is: they are right - you do need to know something about Charlotte Mason's ideas and methods.  Consider the curriculum offered on the AO site your syllabus and CM's works the teacher's manual.  You will not be able to successfully use the one without understanding the other.

 

But: that doesn't mean that you have to read all 6 of those volumes before you can even get started.  Guess what….we've been doing this for four years now at our house and I still haven't read all six.  I'm working towards that, but I haven't reached the goal yet.  And I hadn't read *any* of them when we started AO, although I had read a lot about her.   It is okay to start small, act on what you DO understand, and make it a goal to learn more as you go and build on what you already know.  This is what I have done, and I assure you that you can start giving your children a rich education TODAY, even if your understanding of CM is small and incomplete.

 

My recommendations for starting small:

 

If you are brand new to Charlotte Mason, I suggest Susan Schaeffer MacCaulay's For the Children's Sake.  This is a short and very accessible overview of Charlotte Mason's ideas.  This book was the introduction to CM's ideas for many, many people.  Just be forewarned: once you've read it, you may never look back. J

 

If you've read that already, or you are otherwise a little familiar with CM's ideas, than you may be ready to dive in to Charlotte Mason's actual works.   You can go a couple of different ways with this.  Volume 1, Home Education, is her book that particularly pertains to children under the age of 9.  If you have all little ones, this is a good starting place.   Or you can start with Volume 6, A Philosophy of Education.  This was published just before her death, and is a good summary of her ideas as tested and worked out over her lifetime.   You can't go wrong with either of those.  I read Volume 1 first, and then 6, and then 1 again, and then 6 again, and then started filling in with the others.  

 

You have a couple of different choices for how to read these, once you've decided which you want to start with.  There are various versions available for free on Ambleside Online's website, including the original text or a modern language paraphrase.   You can also purchase the physical books.  They are unfortunately out of print at the moment, but can be found used reasonably priced.  Look for the books with the pink checked covers (like these or these.)  If you decide to go with Volume 6, there is also Karen Glass' very helpful annotated abridgement, Mind to Mind.  She has taken out some of the dated references and rabbit trails while leaving in the essential 'meat', making it another good starting place for the slightly intimidated.

 

If you have the luxury of having a Charlotte Mason community in your local area, do whatever you can to connect with it.   If you don't have that luxury, though – I well understand.  It wasn't until this year that I did either. If that's your situation, the Ambleside Online Forum is an excellent online community.  I have made lasting real-life friendships through that community.  There is a wealth of knowledge and experience there, and no question is too dumb.  Start reading and come on over and join the conversation.

 

Another resource I highly recommend is the Afterthoughts blog.  Brandy has all kinds of helps for those new to Charlotte Mason.  Subscribe to her Newbie Tuesday newsletter – click over there right now and do it. You'll be glad you did.  I recently read the 2015 compendium, and even as a non-newbie found them a helpful refresher.  Her 31 Days of Charlotte Mason series is also a good starting place, and she has some great talks to download in her shop.  Start with the 20 Principles overview one.

 

When you've exhausted all this, you can check my Classical and Charlotte Mason Resources tab for more ideas….but I think I've given you enough to keep you busy for a while.

 

For newbies: where are you going to start?  And for non-newbies: what was your favorite introductory resource to CM?