Is it just me… or does the Handbook of Nature Study give you the impression that an effective teacher ought to collect things for the children’s classroom… living things, for the sake of observation and learning? Surely the instructions on how to create a pond aquarium or a small animal trap are for the reader’s […]
Interesting Collections Read More »
Nature teaches so gently, so gradually, so persistently, that he is never overdone, but goes on gathering little stores of knowledge about whatever comes before him. ~Charlotte Mason We are blessed to have a Charlotte Mason group here in Southern California. From what I understand, we are a rare breed. I often find myself feeling
Every now and then, when attitudes seem to sag, when tiredness sets in, when it just seems like it may end up being ‘one of those days’ – we pack our books, some snacks, coffee to go and take our lessons outdoors 🙂
Taking lessons outdoors Read More »
This fresco, The Descent of the Holy Spirit, located in the Spanish Chapel attached to the Church of St. Maria Novella, in Florence was loved greatly by Charlotte Mason. It represented to her a great truth, that “God the Holy Spirit is Himself, personally, the Imparter of knowledge, the Instructor of youth, the Inspirer of
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This is our second year of implementing recitation with our children, ranging in age from five to nine. Some of the selections we have used are: Caterpillar by Christina Rosetti, The Eagle by Alfred Lord Tennyson, Lullaby by Edith Nesbit, Trees by Joyce Kilmer, 1st Corinthians 13, and Joy to the World. In that time,
Recitation, ‘The Children’s Art’ Read More »
Happy Thanksgiving! I hope this Thanksgiving, perhaps through literature or poetry alongside our family experiences, we are able to share a living idea with our children. the dead yet speak their living thoughts in the work they have left us, and by which as by links of an endless chain all men are bound to
A Thanksgiving Poem Read More »
As soon as he is able to keep it himself, a nature-diary is a source of delight to a child. Every day’s walk gives him something to enter: three squirrels in a larch tree, a jay flying across such a field, a caterpillar climbing up a nettle, a snail eating a cabbage leaf, a spider
Have you ever worried about the phantom “holes” in your child’s education? You know, the important lessons, connections and facts that we might miss by not using the nationally sanctioned public school curriculum? I especially worried about these “holes” when I realized my six year old didn’t know the days of the week in the
I love my schedule. I refer to it throughout the day. It’s like having a road map to know what comes next. Over time, parts of my schedule become habit, and I hardly need it, but I still find satisfaction in checking something off my list, feeling productive, doing as I ought. I have a
How does one explain “living books” to someone not familiar with this cornerstone of Charlotte Mason philosophy? Sometimes it helps to put it into language people are more familiar with. Here is one of my favorite quotes about good literature, which, of course, is what a living book is. “The classics are books that refuse
Living Book Review: Time of Wonder Read More »