Tools for Teaching Charlotte Mason

In my recent series on Charlotte Mason, I discussed terminology that is used within Charlotte Mason circles. Now that you know all of the terminology you might want to know how to go about teaching a child using the Charlotte Mason Method. While there is no such thing as a prepared Charlotte Mason based curriculum, there are several websites and books that can serve as a guide. Simplycharlottemason.com: The Simply Charlotte Mason website serves as a guide to teaching using this approach. It helps you locate books, organize your homeschool, and stay in touch with other Charlotte Mason Homeschoolers. Amblesideonline.org: … Continue reading

Understanding Charlotte Mason Vocabulary U-Z

In previous posts, I and other homeschool bloggers here at families.com have discussed our experiences with charlotte mason curriculum. In my last post, I supplied Charlotte Mason Vocabulary for the letters A – B, , C-E , F-H , I-M , N-P , and Q-T I will now discuss U-Z. Unit Studies: Many people compare Charlotte Mason approach to unit studies but it is distinctly different. With unit studies you combine language arts and mathematics with your science or social studies subject. With Charlotte Mason, you combine all areas. Unschooling: Charlotte Mason is often looked at as a method of … Continue reading

Understanding Charlotte Mason Vocabulary Q-T

In previous posts, I and other homeschool bloggers here at families.com have discussed our experiences with charlotte mason curriculum. In my last post, I supplied Charlotte Mason Vocabulary for the letters A – B, and C-E , F-H and I-M. I will now discuss Q-T. Questions: A child needs to be able to form questions in his mind and not rely on reading guides. Tools like Cliff Notes prevent the student from really knowing how to read a book. Rights of the Child: According to a Charlotte Mason approach to education, children should be allowed certain rights which include being … Continue reading

Understanding Charlotte Mason Vocabulary N-P

In previous posts, I and other homeschool bloggers here at families.com have discussed our experiences with charlotte mason curriculum. In my last post, I supplied Charlotte Mason Vocabulary for the letters A – B, C-E, F-H and I-M. In this installment, I will discuss N-P. Narration: Narration is a very important part of Charlotte Mason approach. The goal is in training the child to spontaneously discuss what he or she has learned. The practice of narration is to have a child write down a summation of what they have read. Nature: Nature is very important in Charlotte Mason Education. Students … Continue reading

Understanding Charlotte Mason Vocabulary I-M

In previous posts, I and other homeschool bloggers here at families.com have discussed our experiences with charlotte mason curriculum. In my last post, I supplied Charlotte Mason Vocabulary for the letters A – B , C-E and F-H. In this installment I will discuss I-M. Ideas: The charlotte Mason philosophy is based on ideas. To quote Charlotte Mason, “Education is a life; that life is sustained on ideas; ideas are of spiritual origin, and that we get them chiefly as we convey them to one another. The duty of parents is to sustain a child’s inner life with ideas as … Continue reading

Understanding Charlotte Mason Vocabulary F-H

In previous posts, I and other homeschool bloggers here at families.com have discussed our experiences with charlotte mason curriculum. In my last post, I supplied Charlotte Mason Vocabulary for the letters A – B, and C-E. This article will cover the letters G-H. French: French was the first foreign language of choice in the Charlotte Mason Parents National Educational Union Schools. This is more because of the schools proximity to France than anything else is. Students were also taught German and Italian. It may make sense for American Homeschoolers to study Latin languages first because these are more useful. Regardless, … Continue reading

Understanding Charlotte Mason Vocabulary C-E

In previous posts, I and other homeschool bloggers here at families.com have discussed our experiences with charlotte mason curriculum. In my last post, I supplied Charlotte Mason Vocabulary for the letters A & B. This article will cover the letters C-E. Copywork: Copywork is the tool used to help students learn. It teaches children excellent penmanship from an early age. It helps them to learn and memorize facts. It also helps to improve spelling and vocabulary. Copywork begins as early as six years old and as the student ages leads to written Narration, Composition, and Creative Writing. Curriculum: Charlotte Mason … Continue reading

Understanding Charlotte Mason Vocabulary A-B

In previous posts, I and other homeschool bloggers here at families.com have discussed our experiences with charlotte mason curriculum. Read: A little Bit of Charlotte Mason This article discusses how the Charlotte Mason Method influences how my family home schools even though we are typically eclectic homeschoolers. More Charlotte Mason: An atmosphere, a discipline, a life This article talks about the philosophy behind a Charlotte Mason Curriculum. Charlotte Mason: Reluctant Narrators This article discusses how to deal with a common roadblock in Charlotte Mason Homeschooling. More on Charlotte Mason and Living Books This article explains what kind of books to … Continue reading

Charlotte Mason: What’s the Point of Copywork?

In this series of posts on CM methods, I’ve covered several of Charlotte Mason’s ideas about education. Today, I’d like to touch on one that doesn’t always get quite as much coverage as “living books” and narrations. Copywork was advocated by Charlotte Mason as a way to teach handwriting, but also as the best way to teach spelling and punctuation rules, sentence structure and basic grammar. It was her theory that reading and copying excellent literature would lead to excellence in composition skills. I’ve used some of Miss Mason’s ideas about copywork and have been really pleased with the results. … Continue reading

Charlotte Mason: Reluctant Narrators

Charlotte Mason advocated the use of oral or written narrations as a way of having a child report on his reading. There are several reasons that narration can be so helpful. Narrating a just-read passage helps a child to internalize and remember it, and aids reading comprehension. It’s also a great help to the homeschooling parent, who can find out immediately what and how much the child has absorbed. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Have your child read a short passage (anywhere from a paragraph to a chapter, depending on your child’s age and ability.) Then, have him tell you … Continue reading