I'm reading a book on her way of teaching. I've found lists upon lists of books. I have many questions. Anyone here follow her education plan? The lists of reading books, are they all for the child to read or are some for reading aloud to them? I saw how she taught in bursts of time. No more 1 hour of math. No more hours of trying to finish a science project. Just 30 mins of subject while they're fresh. My question is, what if they don't finish what they need to do in that time? Do you come back to it later in the day? Another day? I feel like we'd get behind... What are the main, most important things to follow when beginning to learn this way? Any websites/blogs to recommend that would help me know more about this way of teaching? I have a 6th grader.
We love Charlotte Mason and have been using her methods since 2005. I'm homeschooling only ds this year. He's 9 and going into 4th grade. We follow a structured curriculum called Ambleside Online that was designed to strictly follow the whole CM method based on her original writings. There is a stress on living or whole books. The parent should always read aloud at least some of the books. Then your child should narrate back what he remembers. Older children (4th grade +) can do oral narrations for some and written narrations for others. Narrations are the precursor to excellent writing skills and takes the place of workbooks or comprehension questions. We use living books for world history, American history, geography, biographies, science, and literature.The point is to lead children to self-education done through direct contact with the best books. The adult stays out of the way in the sense of not lecturing. Lessons are short 10-20 minutes. It's that way on purpose. Short morning lessons combined with a large variety of subjects is said to keep the kids more focused and interested in the subject matter. The only things that may take longer would be nature study. I can't think of things they wouldn't be able to finish, but if there is, you can break it up throughout the week. Believe me, this is extremely effective. Other aspects of the CM method include afternoons free, art and music appreciation, poetry, copywork, dictation exercises, making a Book of Centuries, nature journaling, getting outside every day, & not starting any formal writing or grammar until 9-10 years old. You can check out my blog for CM links that are in the sidebar. CITYSCHOOLING If you'd like to see the layout I made up for us this year I'd be happy to post it.
Ok, here's our layout for the upcoming school year. Due to ds's mild dyslexia, we've also included a spelling program. This layout is based on Ambleside Online year 3 (4th-5th grades). W~9yo/4th grade: Copywork & Composition Transcribe favorite passages from the Shakespeare play we are reading. Two perfectly written lines every week. Do the same for the scheduled poetry. Written narration chosen from literature (1-2 per week, may be in cursive or manuscript). Draw a narration chosen from literature. Start Dictation, work up to one paragraph by end of year. Writing Strands 2: 2 pgs weekly. Typing Practice online. Spelling & Vocabulary Spelling Skills 4th, 5th, & 6th Grade. Daily spelling practice. Daily reading aloud Grammar Simply Grammar~ together, 20 mins. 1x/wk. Poetry William Blake Sara Teasdale and Hilda Conkling Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 1 or 2 poems per day, discussed and may be used as Copywork. World & American History Our Island Story (Marshall) This Country of Ours (Marshall) A Child’s History of the World (Hillyer) All history readings will be narrated. We will also correspond history readings with a timeline or century book and mapwork. Biographies Michelangelo (Diane Stanley) Bard of Avon: the Story of William Shakespeare (Vennema & Stanley) Landing of the Pilgrims (Daugherty) Geography A study of Marco Polo. This will include projects and mapwork. Natural History and Science Handbook of Nature Study (Comstock) Secrets of the Woods (Long) Science Lab in a Supermarket (Friedhoffer) The Story of Inventions (McHugh) We will do various science experiments and go on weekly nature walks, keeping a Nature Notebook. The Nature Study schedule for Year 3 is as follows: Summer/Fall Term - reptiles. Winter Term - flowerless plants/crops. Spring Term - fish and amphibians Mathematics Teaching Textbooks 5 into Life of Fred Fractions Foreign Language Greek Alphabet Sign Language Latin (Minimus) Art Picture Studies focusing on 1 artist per 12 wk. term and reading his life story from biographies found at the local library. . We will be studying: Term 1 - Albrecht Durer (Italian Renaissance). Term 2 - Caravaggio (Italian Baroque). Term 3 - (TBA) Drawing from nature and narrating tales with drawings. Drawing with Children by Mona Brooks Music Appreciation Listen to 1 composer (specifically) per term and read his life story from biographies found at the local library. We will be studying: Term 1 - Beethoven (Classical/Romantic). Term 2 - Vivaldi (Baroque). Term 3 - Chopin (Romantic) Literature Read-Alouds, Historical Fiction, & Independent Reads Tales from Shakespeare (Lamb) American Tall Tales (Stoutenburg) The Heroes (Kingsley) The Princess & the Goblin (MacDonald) Children of the New Forest (Marryat) The Jungle Book (Kipling) A Little Princess (Burnett) The Water Babies (Kingsley) At the Back of the North Wind (MacDonald) Men of Iron (Pyle) Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland (Carroll) Through the Looking Glass (Carroll) The Bears of Blue River (Major) Swallows and Amazons (Ransome) Unknown to History: Captivity of Mary of Scotland (Yonge) Caddie Woodlawn (Brink) On the Banks of Plum Creek (Wilder) The Little White Horse (Goudge) The Saturdays (Enright) English Fairy Tales - and more (Jacobs) King of the Wind (Henry) The Four Story Mistake (Enright) Then There Were Five (Enright) The Wheel on the School (De Jong)
Wow, that looks great. Thank you so much for sharing. This gives a lot of insight. I am so glad artsygirl strated this thread. Thanks again.
I also have been using the CM method since the begining of our homeschool journey. I am homeschool only my 7yr second grader this year. At first I went strictly with the Ambelside Online curriculum layout but now I use a combination of that and what is found at www.charlottemasonhelp.com.
This all sounds very interesting. Do you feel very structured with your plan? We're not very structured learners. We like to go off on tangents of thought and interest. I'll take a look at your site and the others mentioned. Trying to figure out what to start with next week. Thanks for the info. Anyone else have something to share?
The simply charlotte mason looks great! They have a seminar this weekend near me. Not sure I can make it though. Buying the 2 DVD sets are about the same price as going to the seminar so I might think on that. Thanks for the link!
Thanks for posting your schedule and sharing your blog with CM links. I added your blog to my blogrun(in my blog's sidebar) so I don't lose your list of books. Hope that is okay. You can see it here: Those Crazy Homeschoolers
I was reading through a few CM websites that have sample schedules. They have separate sections for Literature and Assigned reading. What would be the difference in those? Is one where I read to her and another is what I assign her to read or is the literature either she/I read and assigned is just assigned reading, she picks the book? Getting confuzzled. Wondering what CMers would use for Foreign language instructions and when you would start teaching that (what grade?) I'm looking at a latin program right now. Maybe Matin latin or First Form Latin?
The curriculum I use separates them because the "Free Reading" literature books don't have to be narrated. They're just great reads that shouldn't be missed. You can read them (and any of the books, really) any way you like. She can read some, you can read some to her, you can read them together, etc. It doesn't matter. She can pick the book if you like. As far as foreign language, there are some programs more CM friendly than others, but it's just best to use whatever works for you - just like with math and grammar.
