BEING A CHARLOTTE MASON “PARENT-TEACHER” (a note from WP author Kaeryn)

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I remember when I first met Charlotte Mason…

Okay, not really “met,” but got to know.  I was immediately struck by Charlotte’s intuitive understanding of children and how to educate and train them.  I was also hugely impressed by how counter-culture Charlotte’s ways are in today’s world.

If you haven’t gotten to know Charlotte Mason yet, and you are hoping to be a good homeschooling parent, a great “Parent-Teacher” — or at least aiming that direction :), then you should “meet” Charlotte, too!

There are a lot of summaries of Charlotte’s ideas online, but here are the basics:

Charlotte Mason was a British educator who worked with children for years. She believed in exposing children to great ideas, wonderful literature, God’s Word in liberal amounts, and beautiful artwork, and she called for challenging them in a way that gave them a love for learning. She believed in teaching history, getting children to tell back what they know, and — most of all — Charlotte believed in joy!

As a Momma myself, this is what perhaps convinced me that I wanted to be a “Parent-Teacher” like Charlotte.  After all, if I couldn’t bring my children joy, and teach my children the joy in curiosity, in exploration, in discovery — what was parenthood for?

As I delved into Charlotte’s methods and thoughts, I found new ways we were kindred spirits.  It was a thrill to hear from someone who did not believe that raising your children meant teaching them to cram for exams, run around to endless extracurricular activities, and fall into bed exhausted at night.  Charlotte’s ideas were freedom.  Freedom to develop a lifestyle that was not at all like school, not at all over-busied, and above all — not self-focused.

The freedom we found was like finally breathing again.  It meant so much more, you see, than just that we’d found a homeschool method that worked for us.  In fact, we’d found a lifestyle!

We’ve had a chance to live the Charlotte Mason lifestyle for a lot of years now, and we’ve just seen our lives change so radically from what they were before.  Here’s what I’ve learned along the way:

  1. I have never spent one moment thinking about how I wish I done things differently.  Our lifestyle works for us, and it works for our family.  It is a servant to, not a master of, our souls.  It supports our family — it does not “run” our family.
  2. My children have had enough free time to think big thoughts on their own, and that has allowed each one to blossom and develop in their own unique way.  They’ve had to time to explore the world their way, to be curious, to investigate, and it has made all the difference in how they relate to the world.  They reach out to the world and experience it, a true contrast to how many children have to depend on “packaged” experiences in classroom or sports arenas.
  3. The time we’ve had together that wasn’t “overplanned” and “over-scheduled” reaped so many more benefits than I could have imagined.  As my kids have grown up, I can see each day how much that has meant to their development.  They are comfortable with conversation, deep relationships, reading, and self-improvement.   We’ve had so much time together, time we used to mold our kids’ character and develop their relationship to Christ.  We’ve had time to teach them skills and common sense, courtesy and manners, and simple leadership skills like timeliness, follow-through, accountability, servanthood, and working as a team.

I really could go on and on.  In short, I am thankful every day that Charlotte’s simple wisdom traveled across time to whisper to me the things for which my “Parent-Teacher” heart was longing.  She pointed the way to a Christ-centered, family relationship-focused lifestyle that changed our lives.

So, when God gave us the opportunity to create a curriculum that would allow homeschoolers to really enjoy their journey, it only made sense that we build it the Charlotte Mason way.  We’ve included many of the concepts that Charlotte Mason advocated, and added a few we fancy Charlotte would have if she were living in this century!  We’ve made it easy to do yourself, without having to pull a bunch of things together on your own, so there’s still plenty of time to invest in the character of your kids.  Plus, we made sure to include the kind of life learning that so benefitted our own kids, and really stuck with them as time went by.

So, now, I whisper all of this to you, too!  Don’t wait!  Go out there and get some Charlotte Mason in your life!

It may be that WinterPromise offers you a start on that lifestyle, and we’d love that!  But be sure to meet Charlotte Mason in any case, so that you can develop a lifestyle that suits you as “Parent-Teacher,” and develops the promise in your own family!  You’ll never be sorry that you did!

Kaeryn

Curious to learn more specifically about Charlotte Mason?

Check out our blog Meet Charlotte Mason & Her View of Education!

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Meet Charlotte Mason & Her View of Education!

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Who is Charlotte Mason and what are the basics of her education?

Charlotte Mason was a British educator, who, in the late-nineteenth century, published books on education that were both down-to-earth and practical. Her book, “Home Education,” was innovative and influential to other educators of the time.

She fostered the idea that children could be inspired to learn and explore with joy the world around them. Today, many homeschoolers find her ideals are very relevant to their everyday lives and her ideas are practical and inspiring to both parent and child.

Charlotte Mason’s Fundamental Ideas

Charlotte Mason based her philosophy of education upon nine fundamental, practical principles. There are five “DO’s” and two “DON’T’s.”

DO’s:

  • DO provide intelligent reading in abundance.
  • DO introduce your student to culture and things of beauty — music, nature, poetry, and the arts.
  • DO teach your children to narrate, telling you back about their learning experiences in their own words. Notebooking is a part of narration.
  • DO build habits that shape your child, and teach the discipline of self-education for joy’s sake.
  • DO allow free time to develop as a person instead of a heavy homework load, especially in the younger grades.

DON’T’s:

  • DON’T teach your student to succeed for the sake of a grade; instead, introduce them to things that capture their interest and they will try their best.
  • DON’T plan on lecture times of teaching; instead embrace learning together with discussion, experimentation, and narration.

How Do We Measure Education

Charlotte Mason summed up her ideals about education into the phrase, “bringing up” a child. Karen Andreola, in her marvelous book, “A Charlotte Mason Companion,” sums it up this way:

We all wish our children to be well brought up, and when we have come to understand what that means, we know that we need to go beyond simply fitting the child with the basic skills to make a living . . . First and foremost in importance is the power to live the life God has given in the way God intended. In order to have this power, a person must be at his best in his heart, mind, and soul. He must know how to choose good and how to refuse evil.

We, as persons, are not enlightened by means of multiple-choice tests or grades, but rather by the other people in our lives that we have come to know, admire, and love… Children are inspired by relationships, and this helps form their personalities. And so, throughout their educational life, we put them in touch with persons, places, and things…When you give your child a Charlotte Mason-style education, you will be endowing them with the substantial things of our culture, and their interest in these things will naturally spill out, like a cup running over, into their leisure activities, even as they enter adulthood.

Children have the same needs as an adult — to have meaningful work that excites and motivates them to achieve more and more. Charlotte believed that traditional educational systems — designed for demonstrated success through testing — denied children the opportunity to grow in their souls. Education should strive to introduce a student to that which expands their knowledge and understanding of the world in a way that shapes them to be the person God intended them to be.

So lets dive deep into some of CM’s ideas!

Wonderful Books

If you talk to anyone about Charlotte Mason, the first thing they’ll mention will be her advocacy of — in her words — “Living Books.” Charlotte believed that a child needed to read books of quality that were written by people who loved their subject matter and brought their subject alive through action and character development. She felt that stories communicated to readers in a way that would excite, be remembered, and induce them to further interest in self-education. You’ll find the wonderful books we’ve chosen will help you toward these goals!

Culture
Introduce your student to the finer things of life, things of beauty and grace, and you will develop in them a taste for these things and a distaste for things that degrade and sully their lives. Our programs attempt to draw in these aspects to your students’ education, and our four-day schedule allows you time to delve into music and art as a separate pursuit.

Narration
Narration is the art of “telling back.” To some extent this ability is inborn in our children. From their earliest childhood they tell us what just happened to them, or what their best friend just told them. Often we as parents are guilty of stemming their enthusiasm for relating to us in this way, when in fact, this skill, if encouraged to blossom and disciplined to be a part of their education, becomes an integral part of their understanding and an opportunity for reinforcement. Parents are encouraged to integrate narration into the program along the way as a habit, and we’ve even included different narration ideas for greater variety.

Notebooking
A great way to “narrate” is in written form. Notebooking has become popular among homeschoolers as a great way to reinforce student studies. Our “Make-Your-Own” history series and “Timelines in History” are exclusive resources designed to help your student learn the joys of notebooking.

Discipline & Free Time Fundamental to Charlotte’s approach is her belief that education needed a proper balance between the discipline of good habits and free time to enjoy. Our daily schedule will help you implement the daily discipline needed to acquaint younger students with the necessity of a habit of study. As students progress, our independent study schedules will allow you to make them accountable to complete their work according to a list for which they are responsible. Finally, high schoolers also have an independent study regime that will build the skills needed to easily move on to more education. And, all of the schedules we’ve created, allow, we believe, plenty of the free time Charlotte advocated.

Learning Together
All of our resources are designed to keep you interacting with your student for much of their studies. Time spent cuddling on the couch, reading together, contrasts well with the times you’ll work together to complete hands-on activities, or, as the student grows older, research activities. Watching an educational DVD, listening to a music CD together or preparing historical recipes all involve family time … and family memories. WinterPromise is committed to bringing together the perfect balance of resources to keep your family excited, interested, and sane!

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The First Christmas: A 3-Week Study of the Background, Events and Meaning of the Birth of Christ

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Join Hawk, our friend from our Adventures in the Sea & Sky program, as you go on a time-traveling adventure as you witness the birth of Christ.  You will spend 3-weeks (12 days) learning about Roman and Jewish culture, as well as observing the birth of Christ and learning about all that it meant for us.  This study is rich with learning opportunities but also for new family memories. You will experience our “12 Deers of Christmas” activity, watch videos that will take you into the world around the time of Christ, make Jewish food, learn about Roman accomplishments, make your own ornaments and much more! Spend this month learning about the true joy of Christmas and making new memories as a family.

Read a Snipbit from the Study below!

“One of the primary reasons that Rome could expand to the size it was, reaching its peak in 117 A.D., was because of the strength and size of its military. During the reign of the current and first emperor of Rome, Augustus Caesar, he had twenty-five legions at his command. What is a legion? A legion was a grouping of ten cohorts of 600 men each. This meant that a legion had 6,000 soldiers total. Legions made up the backbone of the Roman military. Roman soldiers had many parts to their uniform.”

Tunic

“The tunic was worn underneath a soldier’s armor. It looked like a long shirt that reached down to the middle of the thigh. The tunic was made of rough wool and left the soldier’s lower body unrestricted for marching and fighting, or even working on the empire’s roads.”

Caligae

“A soldier’s shoes were called caligae, sandals that allowed soldiers to march for long distances. The sandals were strong and well-made, well-ventilated and good for marching along quickly. The sandals often had metal studs in the sole, which gave the soldiers grip on rough or wet terrain and made the shoes last longer.”

Gladius

“This short sword is made for stabbing an enemy. Its short length made it perfect to use in close quarters in battle.

Click here to check out The First Christmas Digital Study!

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