For my first few years of homeschooling, I didn’t even know “homeschool styles” and “methods” existed. I sat in my comfortable state of ignorance, just plugging along trying to find what would work but not truly being able to identify what the problem was. When I stumbled upon the different homeschool styles, it was a HUGE “aha moment” over here! So much so, in fact, that I was determined to help other unaware mother’s like me discover their own homeschool style. Since then I have learned that there really are two different homeschool styles in all of us. We all have a natural style that is ingrained in us. This is usually a combination of expectation and experience. We also generally all have some vague picture of something we want our homeschool to be. A homeschool style that we want to emulate. In today’s podcast I’m going to share a super embarrassing homeschool confessional, we are going to talk about the Charlotte Mason method and the new series I will be doing!
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The Charlotte Mason Method in Action
The main motto of the Charlotte Mason method is “I am (a child of God), I can (do all things through Christ who strengthens me), I ought (to do my duty to God and others), and I will (choose the right). Now before I go further, please note that there is a large group of secular Charlotte Mason homeschoolers. She was a Christian and therefore her core beliefs are a big part of this model of education. However, it has truly been adapted and evolved over time to fit individual people. So don’t run away if you are a secular homeschooler!
There are lots of blog posts out there that will tell you what the Charlotte Mason method is. You can also read Charlotte Mason’s library of books and learn more about the original method and woman herself here. I do not claim to be the most knowledgable, I have only this year truly identified this as my vision and heart for homeschooling (traditional homeschooling is my go-to). However today I want to talk about what that looks like for us. I will be giving you actual examples of teaching geography in a traditional sense and compare that with a Charlotte Mason model. I will talk about living books and copywork and building good habits and creating an atmosphere of learning. We will talk about educating the WHOLE child and what that looks like! If you have been needing a down-to-earth understanding of this homeschool style, today I hope to bring some clarity, from this mom’s perspective. The Charlotte Mason method looks different for everyone as they tweak it for their own family so head on over to Pinterest and do some research or check out the links below.
Links mentioned in today’s podcast
Some of the links you will want to bookmark from today’s podcast are:
The Homeschool Style Quiz
What is the Charlotte Mason Method?
