The Charlotte Mason Girl

The Most Simple Way of Using Charlotte Mason

So, you have found a genuine living book, now what?  This is where the FUN begins!  You have everything you need!  This is the most simple way of using Charlotte Mason’s method!

 

Find the most comfortable place in the house and settle in with your children.  (Just a side note – if you have many children, sit on the floor in front of your couch.  It allows a few children to sit on the couch so they can see over your shoulders, and at least two or four can sit on the floor with you, and all can see the great illustrations, or read along with you.  It definitely cuts down on the fusses over who gets to sit by Mommy!)

 

Once you are settled in, open the book, with an attitude of expectation and excitement over getting to read a great book together!  This is the first time you’ve tried narration, so start small.  Read the first one or two paragraphs, then stop and turn to your student and ask that s/he tell you what you just read in their own words. 

You will want to do this with a child who is 6 years old or older.  If they are younger than that, your children should just be allowed to enjoy the story.  You may just find that they do narrations spontaneously on their own, but don’t worry if they aren’t!  This is a very gentle method – as long as you stay gentle!

 

This may feel awkward to you or your child at first, if they haven’t been able to do narrations spontaneously before, of if it’s just been a while since they did that.  Don’t be too anxious for it to go off perfectly the first time.  If they hesitate, or don’t understand what you are asking, ask one more question – like what happened in our story so far?  Or, What do you know about (Character’s name) so far?  Eventually you and your student will get comfortable doing this, and your student will learn to listen attentively as they understand that they will be asked to repeat what they hear. 

 

Enjoy the book together!  The younger the student, the smaller the passages you will ask them to narrate.  As they mature, you will ask for longer and more complex narrations.

 

 

I have one caution here, once you and your children are comfortable with this method, you are going to want to pace yourselves a bit.  I would suggest that you settle into a pattern of asking for only one narration a day.  If you expect your child to narrate every page you read to them, you will take all the joy out of books.  Let them spontaneously tell Dad about the great book you all are reading over dinner, but other than that, only ask for one brief narration a day.

 

 

Next time we’ll talk about how to do narrations in other situations – with many children, with older children, and with little ones along for the ride!

How do we find Living Books?

Remember the definition for a living book from our last visit?  Maybe you think you have found a true living book, but you aren’t sure.  Here is a great test – read one or two pages to your children, then stop and close the book, as if you are finished for the day.  If your children beg you to keep going, you have found a true living book!  You have captured their imagination, and the author’s words are connecting with your children!  YEAH!

 

Here are some books, and places I have found great living books to read to my children:

 

1.    The Bible – the Ultimate living book!

2.    Biographies of great people – in many different fields and at many different times of history

3.    Narnia and The Hobbit have been great escapes for my older children, and have inspired them to nobility and courage and faithfulness

4.    The books of G.A. Henty – GREAT historical fiction that will bring your children right into the happenings in the past.

5.    The books of R.M. Ballantyne – also a great writer of adventure books

6.    Five Little Peppers and How they Grew

7.    the Little House on the Prarie series books

8.    Cole Family Christmas

9.    Sir Cumference Books – geometry presented in story form!  This series woke up a love for geometry in my child that claims to hate math!

10.                       Honey for a Child’s Heart by Gladys Hunt

11.                       The Read Aloud Handbook by Jim Trelease (not all of the books listed here are compatible with a biblical worldview – use discernment, as always!)

12.                      Books Children Love by Elizabeth Laraway Wilson

13.                       Newberry Award winners for lists of potential great books to read or have the children read on their own.

14.                     Too many to go on!

 

You can obtain some of the books above at the following websites:

 

Ancient Paths Christian Bookstore

Vision Forum

 

How we are Using Living Books for Curriculum

Let’s get into the knitty-gritty of how things get done in a CM education.  I would like to start by outlining what a living book is, and how it gets used in our education.

 

In outlining the how to develop a curriculum for students, Miss Mason said, in her book – Towards a Philosophy of Education, the following:

“In devising a syllabus for a normal child, of whatever social class, three points must be considered:––

(a) He requires much knowledge, for the mind needs sufficient food as much as does the body.

(b) The knowledge should be various, for sameness in mental diet does not create appetite (i.e., curiosity).

(c) Knowledge should be communicated in well-chosen language because his attention responds naturally to what is conveyed in literary form.”

A ‘living book’, according to Miss Mason, was one that “warm(s) the imagination, communicates directly from the mind of the author to that of the reader (student), and nurtures thinking.  In other words – written generally by one author who is passionate enough about something that he or she has put the time, energy, brainpower, blood, sweat, and tears into writing a book about it!  When an author writes a book, you are told about all the happenings in story form – not just dry, dull, bare facts. 

 

You learn what the men under George Washington thought of him – that they marched through ice and snow in bare and bleeding feet to follow him wherever he lead.  You learn about where Stonewall Jackson got the courage to lead men in battle – fearlessly.  You get an ‘insider’s’ look at what goes on in the hearts and minds of great people in history as they struggled through very difficult times.  You see things from their perspective – they didn’t always know that what they were doing was going to change the way people lived, thought, what they learned, etc.  They just knew they were doing what they were made to do!  (Can you tell – I LOVE living books!!?)

 

OK, I’ve gone on long enough for now.  Next time, I’ll share what to DO with a living book to give your child the best education anyone could ask for – and it’s right at your fingertips!

A Charlotte Mason Companion - my helper!

In the beginning of my homeschool journey, I read a lot about Charlotte Mason, but mostly in articles, on websites, and I saw many mentions of her in several books - the most memorable was For the Children's Sake by Susan Sheaffer Macaulay.  She said enough about Charlotte Mason, that I knew I had to get a 'how to' book to do this method right.  I found the perfect book in Karen Andreola's book, A Charlotte Mason Companion. 

You see, there is the Original Homeschooling Series out there.  In fact, the Andreolas were the ones who brought back the series for us to see.  However, I couldn’t get the whole 6 volume series at the time, but I was able to purchase Karen Andreola’s book for just a few dollars.  Karen is a wonderful instructor in the CM method.  She explains each part of the CM education in easy, friendly language that was very easy for me to understand.  Then, she takes you into her home to show you how she applied the ideas to her children’s education, and to let you get a glimpse of the fruit of the method. 

I can’t tell you how many “AHA!” moments I had as I read the book and then began to apply the method.  I entered each day with more and more confidence as I saw the method work in my own children’s lives – and mine!  She even shared some of the challenges they faced, and how they faced them.  This was a great help to me when something wasn’t going quite like I thought it should.  She inspired me to be creative in the way I presented pictures and stories to my children.  She helped me remember to be PATIENT for the children’s minds to work on what they were reading or seeing. 

This book was by my side for a whole year, as we learned to implement more and more of the method, and venture into areas I had been too timid to enter before – like studying classical music and the great artists of the world.  I don’t have an artistic bone in my body, and I felt totally inadequate to lead in this type of learning.  Well, no more!  The pressure was off.  Karen reminded me over and over that my job as teacher is to expose my children to great works, and then let them explore them for themselves.  They don’t need me to tell them what they are seeing, hearing, or reading.  They need to be allowed to process it all for themselves – THAT’s how they know a work of art or a great book – they experience it for themselves! 

Now, the book is always handy on my shelf, and I make sure to read at least part of it every summer.  I now own two copies – one to keep on my shelf, and one to loan out!  I want everyone I know to gain the confidence I have gained as a result of reading this book.

If you would like to read this book, check it out at your local library, and if you decide you want to get your very own copy, so you can write in it and keep it by your side for help whenever you need it – you can get an affordable copy here.

What drew me to a Charlotte Mason education?

I guess we'd better start at the beginning - how did I get here?  I am an incurable planner.  So, when our oldest child was only 4 years old, we went to our first homeschool convention.  My sister-in-law and her husband were homeschooling their children, and we knew we would homeschool our children by the time our first one was born.  We attended our first conference in the St. Louis area with Kay and Greg.  I was so glad to have them with us!  It would have overwhelmed me, otherwise. 

This was the first time I heard anyone talk about Charlotte Mason.  I went to a seminar by the people who publish the Five in a Row Curriculum, and Steve Lambert mentioned that they wanted their curriculum to be gentle, like that of the Charlotte Mason style.  Well, I used the Five in a Row Curriculum for the first few years of our homeschool.  At the same time, I began to learn more and more about Charlotte Mason's methods, and began to apply them as I learned them. 

The more I learned about Miss Mason's method and applied it, the more I loved it!  I would read a book with my children, and then we would spend time listening and narrating in homeschooling.  I would listen as my children would narrate - or tell back - the story we had just read in their own words.  They remembered the stories very well, even for weeks afterward, if someone would bring up something that was in a story they had read, they could tell back the story with amazing details!  This WAS a very gentle way of learning for my children and for me.  That was our homeschooling for the first couple of years. 

Our state's mandatory attendance starts at age 6, and we began schooling when our oldest was 5, so I took those first months in homeschooling, and saw them as practice and getting into the groove of homeschooling. 

These were my first tentative steps in using the methods developed by Charlotte Mason, and the more I applied the things I learned of the method, the better I felt about how school was going.  The more comfortable I got with answering questions about my homeschooling adventure.  And the more fruit my children demonstrated in their lives, the more compliments we got about how well behaved and well-educated they were - even at age 8!

Who is "The Charlotte Mason Girl"?

Who is this lady, and why does she call herself "The Charlotte Mason Girl"? - I'm pretty sure you asked yourself this question the first time you heard about me.  Am I right?!  This is a legitimate question.

My name is Sue Pruett, and I've been schooling our children for nearly 10 years, now.  WOW!  I can hardly believe it!  I have almost always used the methods developed by Miss Charlotte Mason.

When we began to look into methods for schooling our children, I began to hear about this woman from the turn of the century whose pioneering work in education changed the way children were taught.  She thought that all children should have an excellent education, regardless of economic condition.  She believed that a great education could be achieved gently. She thought the best way to inspire children to great thoughts and actions was to put their minds in direct contact with other great minds through the excellent, living books written by these great minds.  This inspired me, and as we began to educate our oldest child, I began to - very imperfectly - use the method developed by Miss Mason.  As I began using living books for curriculum, we saw wonderful results!

As our family grew, and the challenge of educating several children, while caring for baby and/or toddler at the same time, we ventured into some other 'easier' methods.  They weren't easier.  They stressed me out.  They stressed the children out.  They just didn't fit us.  We came back to Charlotte Mason's methods, we began using living books for curriculum, and have enjoyed the peaceful fruit of well-educated, happy children - and Mommy, too!

My husband owns an on line bookstore, and last year we ventured out into exhibiting at a couple of home school conventions.  We sell a few different things for home-schoolers, including some great curricula - but they don't all have to do with the CM method (as it is affectionately called!).  When someone would ask me about one of the curriculum sets we have, they would ask me if we used them, and I would answer that "No, we don't.  I've tried some of these personally, but I just realized that I'm just a Charlotte Mason girl, so I went back to that."  It didn't really help our sales of these items, to be sure.  But it was then that I realized that I AM a Charlotte Mason girl - and I'm here to stay!

So that's my story about how I got here.  I invite you to come along with me on this great journey of educating my children in the ways of Charlotte Mason!