My daughters have long since graduated our homeschool and have both successfully completed university degrees in the UK. Throughout their homeschooling years we were very much a Charlotte Mason homeschool and we continued to observe the Charlotte Mason Method of learning throughout their high school years.
Many parents feel that they have to sacrifice their Charlotte Mason (CM) homeschool when they transition from their elementary years into high school. But that simply is not the case. The Charlotte Mason Method works equally well for the duration of a child’s education.
The Charlotte Mason Method for Homeschooling High School
The thing to remember is that a Charlotte Mason education is a method, not a system and not a set curriculum. It is a method based on some basic tenets:
- Great Books
- Good Habits
- A wide variety of subjects
Remember that Charlotte Mason’s method utilizing ‘narration’ is the way by which a child shows what they know and narration may be executed either orally, written, or in an artistic form. Did you note the word ‘method’ again?
Transitioning the Basic Principles of Charlotte Mason Method from Elementary to High School
Okay, let’s start by diving a bit deeper into these three basic tenets and how that looks in our high school homeschool:
Great Books
We will start by looking at the time period our teen is studying for history and assign a living biography or classic historical fiction from the same time period. Decide on how many weeks your teen has to finish the book and get them to schedule that in their planner (yes, lets start training our teen to plan out their work load). Challenge your teen to narrate what s/he reads each week utilizing whatever form of narration you prefer (change it up to keep things interesting).
By doing this you are incorporating two great CM tools – living books and narration.
Good Habits
Remember, habits are the laying down of rails (see Volume 1 Parts III and IV).
Each term I would have an individual meeting with my teens. We would both come to the table having prayerfully considered which habits needed to be addressed and worked on. We would perhaps have two or three between us. We would then select the habit that would be most impactful on her life and come up with a game plan together on how we could work together in establishing this new habit in their lives.
With your encouragement and their effort you should both see the fruits of your teens labour within two months. At that point it’s time for another heart-to-heart and either pick a new habit or give it another month on the habit your teen is working on.
This approach to establishing good habits will help your need develop strategies for cultivating good habits and growth in their lives going forward.
A Wide Variety of Subjects
Now if you have used the Charlotte Mason method in your homeschool during the younger years, no doubt the thought of sacrificing that and following a narrow high school curriculum has struck horror into your heart just as it did mine!
However, I am here to tell you that if you choose to use a set curriculum, you can still add your Charlotte Mason favourites like picture study, poetry and music study each week. You may want to do it during lunch throughout the week, a different subject each day of the week. Or schedule one morning a week so that your teen can immerse him/herself in these subjects.
Nature study can continue alongside a formal science program. Check out the post on combining the two on our sister site Homeschool Nature Study.
Point is, you do not have to sacrifice a wide and rich education. It need not be demanding or strenuous. Each small touch done consistently will contribute to that rich education you are used to.
Charlotte Mason Curriculum
Charlotte Mason outlined a number of subjects that should be followed in the high school years: math, science, English grammar, composition and spelling. Personal development and citizenship, a foreign language, history, geography, bible, literature, poetry, nature study, art, music and Shakespeare.
Notice anything?
Yep! Those are the same subjects you have already been doing! You are just continuing to build upon the fantastic foundation you have already laid.
Same subjects, same methods, but just going into more depth.
In my own homeschool, I would stick to the grade appropriate core maths and english textbooks that we had used throughout our homeschooling (Math-U-See and Llatl) and then pull together resources for each other subject. My girls were two years apart so there were many subjects we could still do together but I expected my eldest daughter to go into more depth than her younger sister. Her ‘output’ reflected that.
What Does Going Into More Depth Really Mean?
I’m glad you asked. Let’s take a look at it through the lens of a few subjects so you get the idea:
- Geography – High school students should be applying their knowledge they have assimilated over the years and be ready to demonstrate an understanding of the places and regions mentioned on the news, in history readings and from the books they read. I would encourage my girls to use an Atlas to locate these regions without my help. They also used a computer program called Seterra which they loved. You can read my review of Seterra here.
- Literature – You will still be using living books but the level of reading is more difficult and they are expected to read it themselves.
- Science – You will start to bring in geology, biology, botany and astronomy. Your student will be encourage to think deeply on these things – we used the Apologia Science high school books as our core and looked for ways we could incorporate nature study into their studies. Remember, field work in scientific studies is vitally important and many scientists still go out into the field to observe. There is no excuse to throw out nature study in the high school years.
Can you see how we are just continuing the Charlotte Mason method but just increasing the difficulty of the materials?
There’s a great post by a homeschool mama where she writes how they CM in high school. She writes about their approach to each subject as well as addressing the credits for each subjec. It is well worth a read. You can find it HERE.
CM or Not to CM? That is the Question.
It seems to me a great travesty when a family throws out all that they have held dear in their homeschools for the sake of a more ‘serious, bookish’ high school. I am convinced that this is a result of fear.
It is my deepest wish that you are able to see that you do not have to sacrifice your belief’s and your gentle art of learning just because you have reached those high school years. You have trusted Charlotte Mason’s methods up to this point, you have seen the results, now continue along this well traveled path.
Trust the process, your children will be fine. They will continue to receive a well-rounded and vigourous education if you stick with your CM education.
More Charlotte Mason Homeschooling and High School Resources
Interested in learning more about the Charlotte Mason method of homeschooling? I invite you to browse these resources:
- The Ultimate Guide to Charlotte Mason Curriculum for Your Homeschool
- Simply Grammar – Narration the Charlotte Mason Way
- Make Homeschooling the Charlotte Mason Way Simple
- Charlotte Mason Homeschool Art Appreciation
- Art Lessons for the Charlotte Mason Family
- Charlotte Mason Guides for Homeschooling
- Help for Choosing High School Homeschool Curriculum
- The Ultimate Guide to High School Homeschool Curriculum Options
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