After 10 years of homeschooling, I'm gathering resources for our first year of high school. Here's what we have in store for our 9th grade homeschool year.
I keep telling my daughter, "We're in this together." Suddenly, the whole world has changed and it's hard for little ones and big ones alike to process. Our routines will be shaken, whether we are homeschooling or sending our children to school. Amidst questions about what our days will hold and how to keep children engaged
Does the idea of poetry study for high school in your homeschool stress you out? Wondering how to make it more engaging, more hands-on, and more interesting in general? You’re going to want to check this out! Poetry tends to be something that falls to the wayside in our literature studies. We love good books of...
This free, no-frills elementary Charlotte Mason weekly planner will keep you on track with your Charlotte Mason style of homeschooling.
Sometimes, a young child becomes "famous" for being able to name every element on the periodic table, or name every president since the birth of our country. I love how adorable they sound when they say, “Dord Wassinton,” and how they swing their legs that can’t touch the ground. As cute as they are, part
Are you starting to plan for next year and want to make homeschooling more family friendly? And more fun? Here are a few steps to getting started. 1. Pick a theme, region, or history time period. With the Peaceful Press we have The Playful Pioneers American history cycle, The Kind Kingdom European history cycle, an
Discover my handpicked homeschool curriculum choices for the 2023-2024 school year. This year, I'll be schooling 2nd, 8th and 10th grades. 😀
A Charlotte Mason Drawing Lesson Before we begin A Charlotte Mason Drawing Lesson … First, I explain why I’m focusing subject by subject. Also, I include Charlotte Mason quotes because I find her original lectures on education to be SO inspiring and helpful. Next, please keep reading to see the break down of implementing lessons, the schedule, […]
I‘m starting to write a series of posts on my use of the progymnasmata with my oldest child. My younger children are not yet doing simple written narrations, so though I plan to use what I’ve learned with them, it’ll still be a while before I begin to implement that. While I’m working on it, I know a few of you have been asking about this, so now is your chance to leave your questions in the comments, and I’ll Continue Reading...
CHARLOTTE MASON PRESCHOOL BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS First, I list our favorite preschool, or early years, read alouds! Next, I explain my journey of how I began homeschooling my children. Next, I discuss my favorite method and philosophy of Education. Please keep reading to the bottom for some great homeschooling resources! FAVORITE BIBLES FOR PRESCHOOLERS A big part […]
Fall is coming quickly, which means the aroma of pumpkin spice and apple pie will soon fill kitchens across America. Pictures of smiling children picking the perfect pumpkin will fill up my Instagram feed. And cute ways to study apples and pumpkins will fill up Pinterest boards. My eye often catches on those sweet little
Charlotte Mason is a classical approach to learning with a focus on habits and character. This Charlotte Mason math workbook will complement your math lessons.
Other than living books, the number one resource for a Charlotte Mason homeschool is notebooks. Why? Because of the opportunities it provides
Approaching Advent from a Charlotte Mason Perspective Advent is such a beautiful season of slowing down, reflecting, and enjoying time together as a family. (...)
Packed full of book recommendations, today's post details our First Grade Charlotte Mason curriculum and book choices for the year!
Our simple homeschool routine for pre-k to 4th grade. It's a rhythm, not a schedule! We follow a Charlotte Mason method.
Homeschooling ( for me ) presented a brand new way of living when I first began 13 years ago. You see... I was SO used to having a boss or having my work lined up for me. When you become a homeschool mom, you suddenly must become self-disciplined. You become a manager. In this post,
Would you like to know more about Charlotte Mason homeschooling? Do you need help incorporating it into a sane homeschooling lifestyle? You will LOVE this interview with Cindy West of Our Journey Westward. Want to
Although Scout will happily tell you that she is now homeschooled, I’ve done nothing at all structured with the little ones because: A) It’s summertime. B) Even after just one year of public school, Scout clearly needs some de-schooling. (That’s a post for another day.) C) They are still little kids! What they need most …
Are you interested in homeschooling using Charlotte Mason’s methods and principles? Check out this huge list of resources to help you become acquainted with her ideas and how to implement them in your home! In just a couple of months we will be finishing up our first homeschool year. It has been a year of …
We should use Living Books to teach children thoughts and ideas that breathed life, not the dry facts in textbooks.
Charlotte Mason 5th and 3rd Grade Homeschool Curriculum Picks
Looking for classic book recommendations for your children? This free classics list by grade level is a good place to start. What is a Classic Book? Strictly speaking, classic books represent models of excellence or works of enduring cultural relevance and values. From a reader’s standpoint, these are the books that keep us thinking about...
Charlotte Mason encouraged the formation of many types of habits. In this post, we discuss her suggestions regarding various moral habits.
As I promised earlier this week, I have some "after" shots of our Calendar of Firsts to share. Now, in thinking and reading about the topic, I came up with quite a few different options for organizing entries: :: By date - Each date is given a line or column, and you can chart each "first" under the appropriate date. Entries made in different years can be designated by pen color, or the year can be noted. :: By sight - Each expected sight could be given a space: "First Daffodil," "First Blossoms," "First Red Leaf on the Maple," etc. (This would be a particularly good option if one was focusing on firsts only in one's own yard.) :: By month - Each month is given a spread of one or several pages, where notes can be made as needed. Divisions might be made for each week of the month (Week 1 of August, Week 2 of August, etc.), or for each year (August 2013, August 2014, etc.), or it could be left blank to fill in as desired. :: By year - A spread of pages for each year: 2013, 2014, 2015, etc. Divisions could be made for each month or each week of the year, forming a kind of grid, or sightings could be kept as a running column, or it could all be more free-form. I think all of these configurations could be useful depending on your goals--hence the perfectionist paralysis. ;) In the end, though, I went with monthly spreads, and I decided to privilege flexibility over clarity, I suppose, in making my calendar basically full of blank pages. I like blank pages--I like the possibility of changing my format year to year without having to start a new calendar. So for this first part of April, for example, I have a few specific dates noted: April 8 - first purple blooms on the boxwood hebe April 9 - inch-round fruits on the plum tree But I also have some more general season observations of things seen around the yard/neighborhood during my run last Saturday morning: In bloom around town - day lilies, hyacinths, wisteria Wildflowers - wild radish, mustard, winter vetch, poppies, dandelions, sorrel I think this combination of dates and lists will be the most useful to us. It suppose it makes this notebook less a Calendar of Firsts and more just a nature calendar in general...but I do hope to spot lots of firsts to note! And I have to admit that being obligated to note just "firsts" makes me nervous--what if I miss something? :) I also plan to keep it somewhat organized, working from the left so that there are implied columns for each year. But not actually drawing the columns allows me more or less room to write, as needed. I can also sandwich extra blank pages between the month-title page and month-image page in years ahead. The format itself was simple: large-type month on the left-hand side and a seasonally-appropriate image on the right. I printed all of it on cardstock for durability and popped them into the binder I had originally purposed for our memory work (which found a new home on Evernote). It now lives on the shelf with our nature journals, ready to pull out as needed. And speaking of Evernote, yes, I did contemplate just making a Calendar of Firsts in Evernote--you know I'm a devotee! But in the end, I wanted my children to be able to page through it and add entries, and they aren't allowed on the computer yet, so hard-copy seemed the way to go for this project. I also decided to combine this project with another little something I've been meaning to start more formally: some life lists. So at the back of the Calendar of Firsts, I printed out some blank forms for us to keep track with: birds, animals, insects, trees, shrubs, wildflowers, and so on. I know birding life lists are common, but I have also found myself noting in the back of my nature journal (more scrawled lists!) various wildflowers I have spotted, trees I have identified locally, and so on. So now these notes will have a more formal home--and hopefully will be in a more useful format. Again, favoring flexibility, I decided to print these one-sided, leaving the back side of each page for further notes about species, descriptions of our sightings, sketches, or whatever else we may find useful to add. (Actually, I'm still trying to figure out what categories will make the most sense for us. Right now, I have Trees and Shrubs, Wildflowers, Birds, Mammals, Invertebrates, Water Creatures, Reptiles, Rocks and Shells, Other Sightings, and In the Garden, which I'm planning to use for cut flower varieties and whatnot. Shells probably would have made more sense in the Water Creatures section, but we don't usually find the creatures--just their shells--and we keep our shell collection with our rocks. And should I make a separate page for "Moss, Lichen, and Fungi"? Haven't decided yet. So I may reorganize some of the lesser categories. But this is good enough.) Oh, and I have written about the horticultural map of our yard we have been working on--it's here too! This binder seemed like the perfect place to keep a formal record of this project. I drew a blank map of our front and back yard, photocopied them onto cardstock, and put them at the back of the binder to fill in by hand as I go along. I'm happy to say that I have almost finished labeling all the plants on our property! That's not saying much, I suppose--we have quite a small lot. ;) But when we moved here, I didn't recognize hardly any of the plants, and this project has never been a top priority, so it's nice to see my slow-and-steady progress actually get me across the finish line! Having it here, accessible to the children, makes it a field guide of sorts for them as they start to put names to the "faces" in our yard. I'm hoping they become good friends. :) I'm planning to use that blank pages opposite each map to make notes--when each plants bloom, other common names, gardening notes, and so on. So now that this is up and running, I'll busy myself with populating the life lists with what we have seen already and with thinking more about the best way to categorize these sights. If you have comments or suggestions, please do share. As I said, the format I'm using allows me to reorganize and rethink the ways I'm keeping track of information, so I'm always open to suggestions. Happy Hunting for Firsts! ** Edited to add - I've had quite a few email requests for my template, so I uploaded it to share. Feel free to download Our Nature Calendar for use in your own homes--especially if you're on the West Coast, since I included images that are familiar to us locals.
Children come alive when they are creating something. Have you ever witnessed this in your home? I'm a mama of 6, and have noticed my children (even young toddlers) come ALIVE when they are creative. There is a misconception that handicrafts are simple crafts that are quickly put together and done. The truth is...handicrafts are
Habit training is one of the Charlotte Mason topics which has become a main attraction of modern day homeschoolers.
Charlotte Mason journaling has so many applications and benefits. Here are 8 ways to use these notebooks for your homeschool.
A few months ago I hit a wall with my youngest and her progress in math. She was doing the work but not really understanding the concepts. So I e-mailed my
A brief history of Swedish drill and physical education, as well as a look at how Charlotte Mason made this type of drill a priority in her school day.
My middle guy, my E, is three now. He is all energy and angst, moving from cheerful and smiling to angry and destructive faster than a political meme earns angry reactions on Facebook. I've realized that beyond a good night's sleep, keeping a regular schedule is so good for my toddler. We can curb meltdowns
(This post contains affiliate links to Amazon, please see my disclosure for the full policy) Charlotte Mason believed these years were marked by the formation of good habits. “The formation of habits is education and education is the formation of habits.” – Charlotte Mason, Home Education She believed formal education should be delayed until the student …
I'm sharing a typical homeschool day with my 6-, 11-, and 14-year-old, as well as some key resources we're loving this year.
Learn how to plan a unit study in four simple steps from a homeschool mom who loves unit studies as much as Charlotte Mason.
(This post contains affiliate links to Amazon please see our disclosure for more details) What is a "Living Book"? This question, I'm asked all the time has become much easier for me to explain and understand than it was 8 years ago. At first, I didn't fully grasp what a living book really was. It
Charlotte Mason taught parents to ignore the pressure to schedule our young kids' time and provide a secure, quiet childhood instead. Here's why.
Math shouldn't feel like a strange outlier in a beautiful, living education. Find out what Charlotte Mason says about keeping the life and love in math.
