Teaching Parents to Teach Their Children with Charlotte Mason Writing

The class I wrote for parents wanting to learn about Charlotte Mason writing to, so they can now teach their children, is published!!

https://schoolhouseteachers.com/2016/07/learning-to-write-with-the-charlotte-mason-method/

The Old Schoolhouse Magazine

I am so excited to see one of my articles in an actual magazine!!  Please, take time to read it, and enjoy this beautiful magazine!!

http://www.thehomeschoolmagazine-digital.com/thehomeschoolmagazine/2016x3/MobilePagedReplica.action?pg=50#pg50

I have one of my articles on page 47 - 48!!

http;//www.theoldschoolhouse.com/have-you-met-charlotte-mason/

Have You Met Charlotte Mason?

Have you met Charlotte Mason? She was a remarkable British woman who was far ahead of our time when it comes to educating our children. She was born in 1842 in England, but was orphaned at the age of 16 when both of her parents passed away. It was at this time that she came to truly love children while living with different families to help them out in their homes so as to have a place to live. So at 18, she decided to join a teacher’s training college. After a year of training, due to financial need, and her wonderful connection with children, she was offered an official teaching position there.

 Miss Mason was given a God-given gift when teaching her pupils. Her belief was this…“Children are born persons.” She treated ALL persons, no matter what age, race or class they were, with kindness, politeness and respect. Charlotte frequently said, “Always remember that people­­ matter more than things. Don’t say anything that will leave a sting.”

Her greatest desire was to teach the “whole child,” and not to just pour information in to them as though they were robots who were to spew back out what had been poured in to them. Her quote has become one that is well known amongst many homeschooling families now-a-days, and that is, “Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, and a Life”

By “Atmosphere,” she meant the surroundings in which the child grows up. Is your home an organized, peaceful place for your children to enjoy and be content in? Where they have freedom to go outside and enjoy the fresh air? Or is your home cluttered, chaotic, and lacking peace so that your children are less than thrilled to come home? If this is the case, what can you do to change it?

As to “Discipline,” Charlotte meant the discipline of good habits, and especially habits of character. Good habits are not acquired simply by making good resolves, though the thought must precede the action. She believed that parents should make this a high priority while their children are young, one habit at a time, and to continue to work on as they grow older.

Lastly, “Life,” is the third area she speaks of, applies to academics with living thoughts and ideas, not just dry facts.

As a final thought…“We hold that all education is divine, that every good gift of knowledge and insight comes from above, that the Lord the Holy Spirit is the supreme of mankind, and the culmination of all education…is that personal knowledge of, and intimacy with God in which our being finds its fullest perfection.” (Charlotte Mason)

Kelly Benedict is a 24 year homeschooling veteran and mother of 9.  She and her husband are awaiting the birth of their 14th grand-baby, all under the age of 10.  She and her family, only 4 of whom are still in the nest, live in a tiny country town in Iowa.  She writes lesson plans for TOS, and specializes in Charlotte Mason’s theories and philosophies after a year of college through True North, and using CM’s methods over the years. 

Science with Living Books

Science with Living Books

How do you teach a fact-heavy subject like science with great literature? First, science is not fact-heavy, or, at least it ought not to be. British educator, Charlotte Mason called science the study of "the great scheme of the unity of life".

Abstract concepts become easy to picture and understand when they are experienced in context. A picture-packed, glitzy book filled with facts cannot teach "the great scheme of unity of life" but literature and hands-on experimentation can.

Charlotte Mason felt that the only sound method of teaching science is to combine field work and great literature. Ms. Mason saw that the teaching of science in our schools has lost much of its educative value through a fatal and quite unnecessary divorce between science and the 'humanities.
Why use literature in a study of science?
Charlotte Mason wrote of the unnecessary divorce of the sciences and the humanities: "It is through great literature that one gets at great thoughts, not through dry, 'dumbed down' textbooks." (A Philosophy of Education, p. 223).Ms. Mason was not opposed to textbooks, only to their exclusive use and that they are too often "dry and dumbed down".
What if I don't have a strong background in science?
Learning along with your child is one of the delights of homeschooling. However, if the concern is that you will miss something of what a child should know in a science curriculum, consider this. If your child can name every scientific term, define it, and still not have a sense of wonder or a curious mind, you will have failed. If you want to be sure you haven't missed anything, borrow a science textbook and study the topics as a guide.
Where can I find good science books?
Look for living books in both non-fiction, fiction and biographies. Study the book choices of high-quality curriculum companies that use literature extensively. Go to your library and ask to see the science section. If the book has too many high graphics, and is not of a strong literary quality, leave it there.

Here are five titles that you can find through inter-library loan or a Amazon, the online bookstore:

1.  Robert Boyle: Trail Blazer of Science,
2.  John Hudson Tiner The Story Book of Science,
3.  Jean Fabre Archimedes and the Door of Science,
4.  Jeanne Bendick Galen and the Gateway to Medicine, John Hudson Tiner Louis Pasteur: Founder of modern medicine.
5.  John Hudson Tiner

The Duty of Devout Meditation

"This duty of devout meditation seems to me the most important part of the preparation of the mother or other teacher who would instruct children in the things of the Divine life."
                                 Charlotte M. Mason

CM firmly believed that education is divive. Education is a matter of the Spirit.  In her view there is no difference between Christian and secular education for true education is the same for all, giving a person the opportunity to learn and enjoy the best in all things for the glory of God, who is the ultimate and goal of all knowledge.

Appropriate to the Early Years of a Child