One of the very best things about homeschooling your kids is that you are free to choose any philosophy of teaching you wish. Paying attention to the way your child learns and adhering to his/her needs in the classroom is a huge benefit that homeschooled kids have.
Many of you reading this review may have chosen to homeschool for the very reason that your child could not learn in the style being taught at a traditional school. There are plenty of styles of schooling your kids out there. There’s Classical, Eclectic, Unit Study-based, Unschoolers, School at Home, and more.
Be sure to check out our Homeschool Methods Guide on Charlotte Mason for more on implementing the Charlotte Mason Homeschool Method in your homeschool.
The style that has most worked with our family is the Charlotte Mason approach. In a nutshell, Charlotte Mason was an educational reformer that live in England in the late 1800’s. She completely disagreed with how school worked and thought it could be better. She had no children of her own, but she made it her life’s mission to improve the educational system as it was. She set to work and started her own school. I love a woman willing to go against the grain!
Her philosophy can be hard to adopt for homeschoolers that were brought up in public (or private) school because it is so different from “regular” school. With a CM approach you use no text books. Everything is taught on a literature-based standard. Instead of having children memorize names and dates and cram for tests, you would read interesting and exciting literature to paint a mental picture that sticks with them…encouraging a love of learning.
Charlotte Mason Guides
So…pardon me for the long introduction. I’ll get the the review now :). It can be difficult in the beginning to know how to use this philosophy, but I’ll share some of my very favorite Charlotte Mason guides that really helped me. (Please note: There are TONS of great websites and books to help you learn more, but these are my most “beat-up” CM books…meaning they are dog-eared, highlighted, “coffee-ringed”, and creased!)
1. Charlotte Mason Companion
Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola: Karen Andreola is a forerunner for starting the Charlotte Mason revival in the homeschooling community. She has written many books about teaching certain subjects the CM way, but this book is a compilation of all aspects of teaching the CM way.
The contents include everything you need to know. She includes a background about what drew her to the CM method and bumps along the way.
Some Chapters Include:
- How to select and use living books,
- Admiration for heroes in history,
- Poetry that even boys can stomach,
- Art and music appreciation for all ages,
- Nature study in the great outdoors,
- The atmosphere of home,
- Good habits make for happy children…and parents,
- Keeping up enthusiasm for lessons and for life,
- And a first peek at Mother Culture ®, because mothers are people too!
The book is sprinkled with personal stories about her life as a homeschool mom. She stresses the importance of having a support system and possibly even starting your own CM group. Each chapter ends with discussion questions and room for notes.
2. A Charlotte Mason Education Series
A Charlotte Mason Education Series by Catherine Levison: These are the books that first got me excited about CM. I love the way Catherine writes and her clear explanation of everything she discusses. Her series is made of three separate titles:
- A Charlotte Mason Education – This book is an overview of each school subject and how to do them the way CM would have. Includes great examples, lists and samples schedules to help get you started.
- More Charlotte Mason Education – This second book goes a bit more in depth and gives great ideas for your classroom.
- A Literary Education – This third book in the series is a compilation of books that CM used in her teaching and newer books that follow her guidelines of teaching. There are many books reviewed and I use many of them in our homeschool. This book also includes a great scope and sequence of grades K-12. It’s a wonderful way to get started, even if you don’t follow it all the way through high school, it’s a great starting point.
More CM Help
Here are some more Charlotte Mason Guides, including both books and websites.
- Simply Charlotte Mason (website)
- Living Books Curriculum (website + curriculum)
- Penny Garner’s Charlotte Mason Website
- Ambleside Online (website + curriculum)
- For the Children’s Sake by Susan Macaulay
- When Children Love to Learn by Elaine Cooper
-Originally published September 2010 and written by Alicia, a Charlotte Mason-loving, mom of three.
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I did my Teacher Training at Charlotte Mason College, (graduating in it’s centenary year) in the buildings where Miss Mason had lived and taught.
At that time the motto of the college was still “For the children’s sake” – something I tried to keep at the front of my mind in my classroom through all the many government interventions I endured in my teaching career!
I’m at home now with my own children – and we have “real books” galore, no “twaddle” in my house! 🙂
AM