Musings: Charlotte Mason, some thoughts.

When I first began homeschooling back in the day, I remember reading lots of books about Charlotte Mason and her methodologies on educating youngsters at the turn of the century in England. So much of it resonated with me because of her focus on honoring the child's imagination, respecting their abilities and limits, and filling their lives with the beauty of nature and literature.

Over the years, I've dabbled in many strains of homeschooling. But Charlotte's ideas always sound appealing, even if I'd never actually implemented them full-force. I find when I re-read about her, my spirit sighs, and the heaviness I sometimes feel about teaching my kids what they need to know falls aside....making room for the lovely parts of home schooling. Reading books together, watching birds, writing stories, memorizing poems, copying interesting quotes and decorating the pages, playing in the dirt, appreciating the arts, learning together. I also notice most of the books I've acquired as my 'classics' are those recommended by Ambleside Online, which is a free curriculum meant to incorporate books and schedules for those implementing a Charlotte Mason method.

Classical education dovetails nicely with CM, as she was a stringent believer in teaching Latin, focusing on excellent literature, studying history chonologically, etc. The Latin Centered Curriculum, which I've been using since the summer is extremely CM-friendly...in fact, they recommend many of the same books. I'm hoping to add more narration, more nature studies, and less formalized writing a la CM to what we're already doing with LCC.

So, there you have it.....more tweaking. And what else is there to do on a rainy afternoon I ask you?