Welcome to Part 2 of the How We Homeschool Series. Through the posts in this series, I will share with you how we got started, what curriculum we use, and how we make education fit our schedule. I am so passionate about educating children at home and would love to answer your questions, if you are new to homeschooling or considering it for your family!
In yesterday’s post, I gave you some of the events leading up to the beginning of our homeschool adventure. God brought so many inspirational women into my life to get me going in the right direction.
Today, I am going to start the deep dive into the method I have chosen as the guidepost for educating my children at home. Not only is it a method, but it involves a Godly mentor that points educators directly to the Holy Spirit and His leading as the head of all education.
Now, I understand this is getting very deep very fast, but stick with me. By the end of this post, I hope you have a greater understanding of this style of home education and are able to make an informed decision to look more into is as a possibility for your family or to chose a different path. Please note, that just because this really works for our family doesn’t mean it’s a one-size-fits-all method. It does require some effort on the part of the educator (parent) and is not at all a “hands-off” method.
A Few Caveats
I’ve already mentioned above that the Charlotte Mason method does require plenty of parental involvement. But, that is not to say that the parent is the source of all knowledge. Yes, the parent is directing the lessons, gathering materials, preparing the feast, as Miss Mason calls it. The Holy Spirit is the One doing the work of educating. So, this means as a parent, we need to rely on and surrender wholly to the Holy Spirit’s directing. So, for this method to really take flight in your home, you would need a saving knowledge of God. If you have questions about this, please ask!
While I do work hard to create a Charlotte Mason Method feast each day in our home, I am not an extremist, by any means. We use narration for most readings, but not all. We sometimes supplement with extra curriculum for science as our schedule allows. I even have an English book in our stack that I occasionally pull out for a quick mini-lesson on grammar, sentence structure and punctuation. And, I do not have Charlotte Mason’s Educational Principles memorized. I’ve read a few of her books, and some by other authors, but have not done an exhaustive study on this method. (Which I plan to continue doing over the years!)
The Method
Charlotte Mason developed a school to train educators based on her 20 Educational Principles. Call it an old-fashioned portfolio of sorts; it is a list of what sums up her ideals surrounding children and the proper educating of them. Her first main principle is, Children are born persons. This is the foundation of much of the method as it fully describes the child (and the parent, too!) as a child of God, a rightful heir to the throne of Heaven, a co-laborer in this journey of life. We, the educator or parent, are to treat the child with the utmost dignity and respect, not just at home or in public, but also when it comes to their education.
This means we don’t dumb down material. We give them the real deal, actual history accounts of what really happened. Maybe we read excerpts of journals or a quality biography. We stumble through the murky waters of long words. Or address deep issues that may take weeks to read through just a few pages. By doing this, we are showing that we value the child’s mind as someone capable of understanding big topics.
Another foundational point of the method is the motto, “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline and a life.” This describes all that the entire home school should encompass and it does not wrap up neatly into a 8-4 schedule. It means that every day, the educator is making great ideas available to the student (or themselves!) It means the educator, or parent is daily seeking out ways to improve their own life through the encouragement or lessons of others. It means doing school as a habit for the pleasure of learning, not because we have to.
And, the sole goal of the Charlotte Mason Method is character formation.
Take a moment to reread that last sentence. Then, a few more minutes to deeply ponder what that really means….
Friends, our goal of educating our children is to build their character through strong, healthy habits. The habit of paying attention to details. The habit of listening. Diligence. Learning for the sake of learning. Obedience to the Holy Spirit.
In essence, we could compile a list of all the characteristics of a Godly person mentioned throughout Scripture and make that our syllabus.
Ambleside Online
Ok, so I am sure you are thinking, “Yes, Ashley, a Godly child is exactly my goal, but how do I find all the books that we should read? How should I map out our journey so that each year has an orderly flow while building Godly character?”
While there are many resources for a Charlotte Mason education, the one we have used in our home from the beginning, is Ambleside Online. This is a brilliant resource for any aspiring Charlotte Mason Mom, as well as the seasoned home educator. The free website has posts with help for getting started and also includes the entire series of education books written by Miss Mason. It also has a yearly curriculum, complete with book lists and recommendations.
It is a vital resource that uses quality books for a modern family. I simply go to the site, download the years’ weekly schedule, and modify/print through Microsoft Word. From there, I purchase the necessary books and any others I want to include for the year. I also create a daily schedule that allows me to have a physical checklist for each day (this is how my brain works best!)
Well, I had planned on getting to what an actual school day looks like in our house and the flow of our school year, but this post is already long enough! I will pick back up in a few days, as we are about to get company for this upcoming week!!
See you next time!
