Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

Agreed.

Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

I recommend reading A Charlotte Mason Education by Karen Andreola (available at most libraries). It is a GREAT foundational homeschooling book!

Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

I like Andreola's book, but also recommend "Educating the Wholehearted Child" by Clay and Sally Clarkson. It helps flesh out some CM techniques and concepts in a really reader friendly way.

Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

Yes, both of those books are great. We read and discussed each of those in our homeschool group.

Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

We like CM too! :smile Right now we are using a Living books approach but with Sonlight. We are using two cores and we love it. It helps to have a direction, so Sonlight takes the planning and guess work out of it right now.

I loved the book A Pocketful of Pinecones by Karen Andreola, it's a work of fiction but it sort of "teaches" you the nature dimension of CM, in an easy read, living books way! I highly recommend it. But I read all about CM methods for free online, by reading articles at Penny Gardner's site, and Catherine Levinson's site.

Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

I had a harder time with Karen Andreola's and Catherine Levinson's books. Andreola's has a lot of great ideas, but I found getting through her book harder than reading Charlotte herself but I think that is mostly me, because most people seem to find it very helpful. I do think she adds in a lot of her own thoughts so it is not solely CM (I should add I don't attempt to do school completely CM style, but just putting that out there :) ).

The thing that helped most for me is to read Volume 1 of Home Education by CM. You can read it free on AO.

Children who Love to Learn is also very good. It spelled out a couple of things for me that I didn't get fully before-- how to do narrations, how to do picture study, and what it really looks like.

Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

I love For The Children's Sake as an introduction to Charlotte Mason.... and The Charlotte Mason Companion for some more ideas on how its done...

Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

Me too. I like to read it during the summer just to "refresh my vision". Something so inspiring about those Schaeffers.(sp?)

Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

Made this a sticky. :) :heart

Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

YAY, a sticky

:hiding

Jen D.

Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

http://understan dingcharlotte.blogspot.com/ <--- I came across this blog about Charlotte Mason for younger children and I thought I would mention it

I also found this, the benefits of short lessons: http://www.charlottemasoneducation.c...rtlessons.html

Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

For those of you who use Ambleside Online, with reading children.... do you read the weekly readings TO them, or do you have them read them on their own? Or do you perhaps read the suggested readings to them and let them read some of the suggested Free Reading books on their own? Just curious.... (yes I'm looking back at CM because I just can't help but like it but it seems so overwhelming, but we are taking a break from school til probably the end of March, when we are settled in, and I figured that would be a good time to read a little more on the AO website, if I can manage to make sense of it) :haha OK not really. REALLY...I'm still leaning toward sticking with Abeka, and honestly the whole downloading books off the computer thing doesn't appeal to me too much :shrug ( that's why I liked Heart of Wisdom...)

Well, at least I'm learning about various methods and what have you, even if we do just end up sticking with Abeka, for various reasons. :rockon

Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

Me neither, that's why we're just going to buy them. There is also the library as an option, though with the slow readings you would have to be able to renew them for a full 12 weeks.

If you like Abeka so much why are you looking to change it? Is there something you are looking for? :think

Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

Great question!! LOL!

Y'know, it isn't so much that I'm "looking to change"--I think it's more that not too long ago (few months maybe?) I stumbled across something (:scratch to remember what it was.... ) that happened to be a "Charlotte Mason approach" book. I wanna say it was something from Peace Hill Press? Or maybe that was Classical learning? Actually I do think it was Classical.. Anyway, since then (cuz whatever it was it really appealed to me) I have just been researching, y'know? Finding out what I can about things, etc. For awhile I thought that the unit study approach would be great for us (we'd still keep Abeka for phonics/reading/language/arithmetic)...but (at least the one I got) it's a big :td I think, for us. BUT I do still like the idea of 'doing units'..so I have lately been coming across things that happen to be CM style stuff, but aren't "full blown" CM--just some units on certain topics. The most recent was Heart of Wisdom,which I REALLY like. I could never use that as a full blown curriculum, and I honestly don't see us using anything besides a Traditional approach for the 3R's... but that appeals to me as a supplement. I am only recently (this week) realizing that.....I always come back to Abeka when comparing other curriculums. Usually it's because I will look at samples of stuff, but will have to go up 1-2 grade levels in other curr's, just to keep up w/where Abeka has them. So then I just keep telling myself "if it ain't broke".....and since I'm not willing to ditch Abeka altogether and go w/something else completely...........looks like we'll be sticking with it. :heart

But I am still interested in HOW (Heart of Wisdom)'s unit studies, since those are small. (And the thing with Ambleside was that I would still have to supplement for the 3R's...........thus pointing me right back to Abeka LOL :crazy )

Re: Charlotte Mason?
 

PeaceHill Press is Classical. There are similarities with CM. I found this article helpful. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/charlottemason.html With TWTM you don't have to supplement except for finding a math program that works for your family but if you have something that you like and works for your family :shrug

I really wanted to do Ambleside but my husband was having a tough time grasping how to schedule and implement. He gets TWTM because of how the lessons are laid out. If I'm sick or have to care for my sister or go to a specialist appointment with Bird he can pick up the lessons without confusion. I guess in the end we are kind of picking and choosing to make our own classical education. :think I also wasn't going to argue when he finally spoke up and expressed the desire to really be a part of hsing our children.

I had originally planned to download the books because I wanted to hs as inexpensively as possible but since I don't like to read off the computer I was printing everything. I ended up buying the books we are going to be using.