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WHO IS CHARLOTTE MASON? Many of you have heard the name Charlotte Mason in your encounters with homeschooling. But, there are the few who do not know who she is or why her teaching methods are making such an impact in the teaching community. I would like to give you a little background on this woman and an insight into her methods. While I use parts of her methods, I am not a CM only gal. But, talk to a few friends of mine and they are just avid fans of hers!!! If you have a squiggly child, then sit back and read awhile because this just may be for you! Ambleside, England, is where Charlotte Mason lived and operated her teacher's college between 1885 and 1923. CM is a literature-based approach to education. That means that they use few, if any, textbooks or workbooks. Instead, the children read literature chosen to cover the material as much as possible. Quality is more important than quantity. Give your children living Ideas, encounters with great minds, and they will never forget them. The following section is courtesy of Lynn B Hocraffer who has an extensive CM website at: http://homepage.bushnell.net/~peanuts/faq1.html.
"Copywork is key to all studies, beginning at age 6 and continuing through High School. Copywork begins with careful penmanship, learning to make the letters and numbers correctly, producing a few perfect examples rather than a page of work that becomes sloppy. Once the letters are learned, then simple words, then sentences, paragraphs, poetry, and so on according to the age and ability of the student. Carefully choosing work that can be accomplished within the lesson time and not rushing. The assignments are chosen from the children's current daily reading.
Dictation. The parent reads, the child writes. In CM dictation, the child prepares for a sentence (small children or beginners) by practicing every word in it. Older children will prepare a paragraph, but will already know most of the words so will only practice new or difficult ones. Use it as copywork for a few days, pointing out spelling, capitalization and punctuation. When they know it, then do it as dictation! Then compare to the original, erase and correct mistakes. Tomorrow try it again, until it is right. Hooray!
Drill. You find it on every sample schedule. Today it usually means worksheets or flash cards, but to Charlotte Mason it meant Physical Education. Aerobic exercise, usually accompanied by singing. Marching, exercises, floor exercises such as gymnastics, fun songs. Often the singing might be in a language the children were studying. After about three long classes of reading and writing, when a child's brain can be excused for getting 'sleepy', children would get this drill period Charlotte Mason knew how to vary a schedule to avoid tedium.
Narration is one of the key characteristics of a CM education. Telling later without prompting is very CM. Your child should be able to tell you what they read after your shower, tell Daddy when he comes home, and tell Grandma over the phone this weekend without referring to the book. You want to know what ideas caught her mind, not get a formal book report. A dozen children could read the same passage and give a dozen different true versions. One child might notice the horse, another the apple trees in bloom, another the weather. Without any review, the children sit down and write a paragraph or an essay (by age) on the books they have been reading.
" What we do: We do take periods when I can tell that my children's stress level is rising. I let them run 10 laps back n' forth in the backyard or so some jumping jacks. All they need is about 10 minutes of exercise to get rid of the anxiety that was building. I usually join them because fresh air free mom's mind as well. On the issue of narration, I have my younger ones narrate back to me books I have read to them or that they have completed. It clues me in that they are really understanding what they are reading and not reading to get it done so to speak. It also helps me catch problems before they boil. Literature is a main focus with us but we do use textbooks. Take what you can from this method and use it in your homeschool. Charlotte Mason Study Loop The CM FAQ's Page is located here: A Charlotte Mason Education CMRSC Published Products Available for Purchase Penny Gardner on Charlotte Mason
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