A Delectable Education Charlotte Mason Podcast: Recent Episodes
Liz Cottrill, Emily Kiser and Nicole Williams
Through twice monthly conversations, three moms who have studied the Charlotte Mason method of education and put her ideas into practice in their homes join together to share with one another for the benefit of listeners by giving explanations of Mason's principles and examples of those principles put into practice out of their own teaching experience. These short discussions aim at providing information, support, and encouragement for others by unfolding the myriad aspects.
in this podcast episode for all our announcements so you can follow along with us this year.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Season 12 Reading Schedule
ADE Patreon
ADE on YouTube
We're back for one last episode of Season 11, in which we have been taking a deeper dive into the curriculum as laid out by Charlotte Mason. We have a very important practice to share with you on the podcast today to help you finish your school year well and to get off on the right foot for the one to come.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Episode 241: Seasonal Reflections
Form Level Recap Episodes:
- Episode 83: Form 1B Recap
- Episode 84: Form 1A Recap
- Episode 85: Form 2B Recap
- Episode 86: Form 2A Recap
- Episode 87: Form 3 Recap
- Episode 88: Forms 4-6 Recap
Episode 264: The Time-Table
Episode 232: Forecasting
Short Synopsis Episodes
Awaken Living Books Conference July 17-18 in Traverse City, MI
ADE Teacher Helps and Training Videos (check back over the summer for new additions!)
ADE Patreon
ADE Curriculum Cohort (registration for 2027 cohorts start Nov 1, 2026!)
Sabbath Mood Homeschool's Nature Explorers Rotation B (available for purchase May 10, 2026!)
Sabbath Mood Homeschool's Understanding Biomes (Rotation B available for purchase by the end of August, 2026!)
ADE on YouTube
How do you feel about classical music? Like art, music is a language in itself that conveys thoughts and ideas that words alone cannot. Charlotte Mason recognized this and included musical appreciation in her curriculum as knowledge that was due to all children. Join us in today's podcast and get inspired to begin your own musical education if you haven't already.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Composer Study Guides from Tillberry Table
Music Study with the Masters series from Simply Charlotte Mason
Great Musicians series by RaeAnna Goss (info here; shop here)
ADE on YouTube
Children should learn pictures line by line, group by group, by reading not books but pictures themselves, Charlotte Mason writes. At a time when colored reproductions were non-existent, she required each student in her schools to own their own set of art prints. In this episode of the podcast, we're going to discuss how and why to teach art appreciation in the Charlotte Mason Method.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Emily's Picture Study Portfolios from Simply Charlotte Mason
Artist Study from Riverbend Press
Picture Study from A Humble Place
ADE on YouTube
When Charlotte Mason admonishes us that we don't have the right to pick and choose which subjects to educate our children in, her primary example is Latin. "But we do not know how much we are shutting out from Tommy's range of thought besides the Latin grammar," she says. "Latin itself is a means of providing our students with stimulating ideas." Join us on today's podcast as we discuss the teaching of Latin in a Charlotte Mason education.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Visual Latin (can be purchased from a variety of retailers)
ADE on YouTube
Charlotte Mason's school programs had students studying three languages, besides English and Latin, by the time they graduated. Why was the study of Foreign Language so important to her? We'll explore that idea and lay out her method for teaching languages in today's podcast episode.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
TalkBox.mom (a variety of languages)
theULAT.com (French, Spanish; Italian and German coming)
aliceayel.com (French)
Academia Late y Llama (Spanish)
*You can also search on YouTube for "Comprehensible Input [target language of your choice]"
ADE on YouTube
When you hear that Charlotte Mason doesn't begin formal lessons in grammar until Form 2, do you think she's crazy? Or at least wonder why? A young Ms. Mason would've agreed with you, but after working with real children, she changed her mind. On today's podcast, we're discussing Grammar lessons in the Charlotte Mason method. Join us and find out more.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
ADE's Form 2 Grammar Lessons Guide by Mason (updated by Liz Cottrill)
ADE's Grammar Lessons: A Short Grammar of the English Tongue by Meiklejohn (updated by Jessica Becker)
ADE's Poetry Scansion Lessons by Jono Kiser
Episode 237: Writing: Grammar and Composition
ADE on YouTube
Learning languages, both our own and other tongues, is a significant portion of a Charlotte Mason education. More time is given to their study than any other subject on Ms. Mason's timetables. In today's podcast, we look at the foundational principles of language acquisition to lay the groundwork for learning to speak and write in any language.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Thirty Million Words by Dana Suskind
The Language Instinct by Steven Pinker
Episode 44: Language Acquisition
ADE on YouTube
How do I help my older students develop their composition abilities if they've not been narrating from the beginning? How can I keep up with all the many narrations my children need to tell and write each day? How do I know that they're getting the facts right in their narrations? We're addressing these questions and more as we wrap up our Composition series on the podcast today.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
ADE Composition Planner
ADE Exam Planner
ADE Teacher Resource: A Point or Two of Correction and Critique
ADE on YouTube
Finally, in the highest forms, grades 10 through 12, Charlotte Mason allowed that students do need some definite instruction in Composition. We'll be sharing what this looks like on the podcast today.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
ADE Composition Planner
ADE Teacher Resource: A Point or Two of Correction and Critique
ADE on YouTube
As our children move into middle and high school, we can ask them to write in various styles and genres. Join us on today's podcast to learn what we can do as teachers to support them in their composition lessons while not diminishing their unique voices.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
ADE Poetry Scansion Lessons
ADE Poetry Scansion Additional Exercises
ADE Composition Planner
ADE Exam Planner
ADE on YouTube
How do we help our children learn to write down their thoughts? What should we expect as our students transition from oral to written narration? Join us today on the podcast as we look at composition in Form 2, grades 4 through 6.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Composition Planner
ADE on YouTube
Charlotte Mason called narration an art, something that is inherent in every person that needs not to be taught. But how can we help our child develop and hone their abilities to tell? We'll be discussing this in today's podcast as we look at composition in Form 1, grades 1 through 3.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
ADE on YouTube
Did you know Charlotte Mason believed that composition didn't need to be taught? In fact, she thought we would diminish children's natural gifts by too much instruction in this subject. Join us on today's podcast to learn more.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Episode 8: Narration 2.0, the Act of Knowing
Episode 9: Narration Q&A 2.0
Episode 159: Composition Instruction
Episode 237: Writing Grammar and Composition
ADE on YouTube
As we close our series on citizenship, we hope you'll join us on today's podcast for a discussion of practical questions we often hear.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
ADE on YouTube
What do high school Citizenship lessons look like in the Charlotte Mason method? How do these lessons prepare children for the rest of their lives? On today's podcast, we're discussing these questions and more, so stay tuned.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Ourselves by Charlotte Mason (Riverbend Press softcover or Amazon - Vol. 1 and Vol. 2)
ADE on YouTube *Video for this particular episode was lost, so on YouTube it is an audio recording only. Thank you for understanding; we will be back on video next week!
Is Plutarch all there is to Citizenship? Not at all. Middle school students in Forms 3-4 take up the definite study of their local, state, and national government, as well as turn their attention upon themselves to learn how they are capable of engaging the world and their neighbors. Tune in to the podcast today to hear more.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, trans. by Thomas North*
Anne White's Plutarch Project (Amazon or free on AmblesideOnline.com)
Ourselves by Charlotte Mason (Riverbend Press softcover or Amazon - Vol. 1 and Vol. 2)
Atlases (discussed in Episode 324):
- Ancient and Classical Geography*
- Rand McNally's Atlas of the Ancient World, ed. by RR Palmer*
- Muir's Historical Atlas of Ancient Medieval and Modern*
- Digital map resources at Grammaticus.co
Episode 27: Plutarch
Episode 178: Plutarch Immersion
ADE on YouTube
*for out of print - OOP - or difficult to find books, try BookFinder.com
What in the world is a Plutarch lesson, and why is Plutarch an important part of a Charlotte Mason curriculum? Join us in today's podcast episode to learn about upper elementary Citizenship lessons and learn why this ancient biographer plays a crucial role.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Stories from the History of Rome by Beesly
Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, trans. by Thomas North*
Anne White's Plutarch Project (Amazon or free on AmblesideOnline.com)
Atlases mentioned:
- Ancient and Classical Geography*
- Rand McNally's Atlas of the Ancient World, ed. by RR Palmer*
- Muir's Historical Atlas of Ancient Medieval and Modern*
- Digital map resources at Grammaticus.co
Episode 27: Plutarch
Episode 178: Plutarch Immersion
ADE on YouTube
*for out of print - OOP - or difficult to find books, try BookFinder.com
The study of Plutarch's lives is a distinctive part of a Charlotte Mason curriculum. But why did she insist on reading these verbose biographies of ancient Greek and Roman leaders? In today's podcast we'll discuss the principles of the subject of Citizenship and learn why Plutarch is relevant for today's students.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Episode 27: Plutarch
Episode 29: Citizenship - Everyday Morals & Economics
ADE on YouTube
Today's podcast episode is part of our occasional series, Voices from the Conference. We use these episodes to highlight one of the speakers or ideas that came out of last year's conference. Today Cathy McKay will be sharing her plenary talk "Distinguished Difficulties" with us. Enjoy!
Distinguished Difficulties plenary handout
ADE on YouTube
Today's podcast episode is part of our occasional series, Voices from the Conference. We will be sharing with you Morgan Conner's talk from this past year's ADE @ Home Virtual Conference on reading Charlotte Mason's volumes. Enjoy!
Charlotte Mason volumes reading schedule
How can I get my kids to read these types of books if they've not been Charlotte Mason educated from the beginning? Where can I combine my children to make our schedule better? How do I know that they are getting anything out of their reading? In today's podcast we are addressing these questions and more as we wrap up our literature series.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
ADE on YouTube
Today, we are talking about the highest level of Charlotte Mason Literature lessons in high school. How do they differ from earlier levels? What sorts of books are assigned? Stay tuned to learn more.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
ADE Shakespeare Planner
ADE on YouTube
If you've been following along, you might be thinking, what more can we add to literature lessons during middle and high school? Well, join us today to take a look at grades seven through nine literature lessons in the Charlotte Mason curriculum.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
English Literature for Boys and Girls by HE Marshall
The Age of Fable by Thomas Bullfinch
Shakespeare (Folger and Oxford Editions)
ADE Literature: Forms 3-4 Breakdown
ADE Shakespeare Planner
ADE on YouTube
Do we really need to read Shakespeare? I thought all of the books were read during morning lessons. Upper elementary literature lessons in a Charlotte Mason curriculum may just surprise you. Join us today in the podcast to find out all the details.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Heroes of Asgard by Annie and Eliza Keary (black and white or color)
The Age of Fable by Thomas Bullfinch
Shakespeare (Folger and Oxford Editions)
ADE Literature: Forms 1-2 Breakdown
ADE Shakespeare Planner
Episode 38: Shakespeare
Episode 135: Shakespeare Immersion Lesson
ADE on YouTube
How much should I read in a lesson to my beginning students? Which books are best suited for early elementary school? Stay tuned in to today's podcast episode as we discuss Form 1 Literature Lessons for grades 1-3.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Aesop for Children by Milo Winter
Andersen or Grimm's Fairy Tales
Pilgrim's Progress (Penguin Classic)
Etsy shop for Pilgrim's Progress Map
Tales of Troy and Greece (Yesterday's Classics)
ADE Literature: Forms 1-2 Breakdown
Episode 130: Form 1 Pilgrim's Progress Immersion Lesson
ADE on YouTube
Living Books. These two words are almost synonymous with a Charlotte Mason education. In today's episode we begin our discussion of Literature in a Charlotte Mason curriculum and try to get to the heart of how she used living books in literature lessons.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Episode 36: Literature
Episode 236: Poetry
ADE on YouTube
Are you wondering where to place your kids in Charlotte Mason's streams of history? Are you struggling to teach multiple students in multiple form levels? In today's podcast we are addressing these things and other practical concerns and questions about Charlotte Mason's history lessons.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
ADE on YouTube
What do high school history lessons look like in the Charlotte Mason Method? How do these lessons prepare the students for the rest of their lives? In today's podcast we are discussing these questions and more to help you give your high schoolers a wide feast of history.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
History of the American People by Paul Johnson
Land of Hope by Wilfred McClay
From Dawn to Decadence by Jacques Barzun
Story of Mankind by Hendrik van Loon
Edith Hamilton's Ancient History books:
- The Roman Way
- The Greek Way
Book of Centuries at Riverbend Press
Century Charts at Riverbend Press (includes free download option)
Calendar of Events (monthly planner at Juniper Grover)
History Tools Planner
Episode 14: History Books
Episode 15: History Things
Episode 112: Notebooks and Paperwork, Part 2 (includes notes on History Tools and keeping track of the chronology rotation)
ADE on YouTube
How do the history streams work? How do I choose which country's history to add as my neighbor's stream? Why can't I study whichever ancient history I want this year? In today's podcast, we're going to be diving into these questions and more as we look at Charlotte Mason history lessons in upper elementary and middle school.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Gerald Johnson's A History for Peter series:
- America is Born
- America Grows Up
- America Moves Forward
Our Island Story by HE Marshall
The Story of Britain by Patrick Dillon
Dorothy Mills' Ancient History series:
- Book of the Ancient World
- Book of the Ancient Greeks
- Book of the Ancient Romans
- Book of the Middle Ages
Wall Timeline at Riverbend Press
Book of Centuries at Riverbend Press
Century Charts at Riverbend Press (includes free download option)
Calendar of Events (monthly planner at Juniper Grover)
History Tools Planner
Episode 14: History Books
Episode 15: History Things
Episode 112: Notebooks and Paperwork, Part 2 (includes notes on History Tools and keeping track of the chronology rotation)
ADE on YouTube
In today's podcast we are digging into what Charlotte Mason history lessons look like in early elementary school. We will cover the scope and sequence and show some helpful resources to make history come alive for our youngest students.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
America Begins by Alice Dalgliesh*
And There Was America by Roger Duvoisin
Meet the North American Indians by Elizabeth Payne*
Land of the Free by Enid La Monte Meadowcroft*
Stories of America, Volume One from Simply Charlotte Mason*
Stories of America, Volume Two from Simply Charlotte Mason
Heart & Soul by Kadir Nelson
America First by Lawton Evans
Wall Timeline at Riverbend Press
History Tools Planner
Episode 14: History Books
Episode 15: History Things
Episode 112: Notebooks and Paperwork, Part 2
ADE on YouTube
*For out of print (OOP) or hard-to-find books, try searching at BookFinder.com.
What made Charlotte Mason craft her curriculum around the subject of history? Why is the subject important for today's students? Join us on the podcast for our discussion today as we begin our series on Charlotte Mason history lessons.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
History Rotation Diagrams
Video Explaining History Rotations
Episode 11: Why Study History
Episode 12: The Chronology of History
ADE on YouTube
If you've been following along with our series on Charlotte Mason Bible lessons, you likely have some lingering questions. Where should I place my students in the progression if they've not been doing Charlotte Mason from the beginning? Or where can I, and where ought I not, combine my children? What about specific translations or how to assess my child's progress? We'll do our best to answer these and more in today's podcast.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Episode 224: Combining Multiple Students
Episode 290: Bringing Older Children into the Charlotte Mason Method
Episode 17: Bible 2.0
ADE on YouTube
In today's podcast we are taking a close look at Charlotte Mason Bible lessons for high school students. Which portions of the scripture did Ms. Mason reserve for our oldest students? How are they equipped to continue reading the Bible on their own after the full feast of Bible lessons from their whole education? And where do they go from here? Listen as we discuss!
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Scripture Journals (ESV and CSB options) on Amazon or here
The One Volume Bible Commentary JR Dummelow*
The Saviour of the World by Charlotte Mason (Amazon for Vol 1-3 or Riverbend Press for all 5 volumes)
The Gospel History of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by C.C. James
ADE Bible rotation
ADE Schedule Cards
Episode 128: Form 1 Bible Immersion Lesson
ADE on YouTube
*For OOP (out of print) or hard to find texts, try BookFinder.com
How do Charlotte Mason Bible lessons change as students get older? Join us for today's discussion on the podcast as we turn to middle school students and answer some common questions like, why can't we continue Bible lessons with the whole family? And how can I help facilitate separate Bible lessons for my older students? Tune in to hear some insight to help navigate these issues, and more!
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
The Old Testament History by Costley-White and Hardwich (online version or hard copy at Living Library Press)
Commentary on the New Testment: The Four Gospels by W. Walsham How*
Scripture Journals (ESV and CSB options) on Amazon or here
Acts of the Apostles by Ellen M. Knox
The Gospel History of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by C.C. James
The Saviour of the World by Charlotte Mason (Amazon for Vol 1-3 or Riverbend Press for all 5 volumes)
ADE Bible rotation
Bible: Forms 1-2 Lesson Breakdown
Episode 128: Form 1 Bible Immersion Lesson
ADE on YouTube
*For OOP (out of print) or hard to find texts, try BookFinder.com
This episode of the podcast focuses on what Bible lessons look like in elementary school. You'll learn how often and for how long Charlotte Mason Bible lessons last at this age, how to teach the lessons, and we will share some of our favorite resources with you.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Paterson Smyth commentaries
Scripture Journals (ESV and CSB options) on Amazon or here
Bible Art Resources:
- Bible Picture Portfolios
- Bible in Art: New Testament, Richard Muhlberger*
- Bible in Art: Old Testament, Richard Muhllberger*
Bible Atlas Favorites:
- Holman Bible Atlas
- Golden Bible Atlas*
ADE Bible rotation
Bible: Forms 1-2 Lesson Breakdown
Episode 128: Form 1 Bible Immersion Lesson
ADE on YouTube
*For OOP (out of print) or hard to find texts, try BookFinder.com
Why did Charlotte Mason think that the Bible was the most important subject in a child's school lessons? What portions of the Bible are appropriate for children to read? And why should I include Bible as a lesson if our family already does regular Bible reading or devotions? In today's podcast we are tackling these questions and more as we look at the Bible as a school subject in the Charlotte Mason curriculum.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Episode 17: Bible 2.0
ADE on YouTube
Are you lacking confidence in choosing your Charlotte Mason curriculum? In today’s podcast we are talking about what a Charlotte Mason curriculum isn't by examining the principles Miss Mason gave us, so we can spread the feast of a living education with confidence.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
Episodes on the curriculum:
- Episode 193: The Interdependence of a CM Curriculum
- Episode 266: The Utility of the Charlotte Mason Method
- Episode 280: The Simplicity of the Charlotte Mason Method
Episode 168: Habit Training
Episode 264: The Time-Table
ADE on YouTube
Have you ever wondered what makes a curriculum Charlotte Mason or not? Charlotte Mason herself gave us principles based on her idea that children are born persons. This season of the podcast, we are going to be working our way through chapter 10 of volume six and answering that question: What is a Charlotte Mason curriculum? Join us in this episode as we start to answer that question by exploring points 11-15 of her educational principles.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
ADE's Short Synopsis Episodes
Episode 204: Short Synopsis Points 9-12
Episode 206: Short Synopsis Points 13-15
Episode 5: The Science of Relations
Episode 8: Narration
ADE on YouTube
We're back for season 11 of the podcast! Listen to hear about everything that is new at A Delectable Education along with a unique opportunity to read Charlotte Mason along with us.
Charlotte Mason, Volume 6 (Amazon) (Living Book Press - use code DELECTABLE for 10% off!)
ADE Vol 6, Chapt 10 Reading List
ADE on YouTube!
Teacher Helps
- 10 Minute's Map Exercises
- Scansion Lessons - Extra Practice
- Literature Forms 3-4 (English Literature for Boys & Girls and Age of Fable)
- Citizenship Forms 3-4 (The Young Citizen's Reader and Ourselves)
Teacher Training Videos
- High School Algebra demonstration lesson
- Form 1-2 Bible demonstration lesson
- A Method for the Madness: Organizing Home and School workshop
- Imagination, The Missing Ingredient workshop
- Conducting a Special Study workshop
- A Point or Two of Correction and Critique: Assessing Your Students’ Compositions workshop
- The Habit of Remembering workshop
- School Planning, One Bite at a Time workshop
ADE’s Patreon Community
ADE at HOME {Virtual} Conference (First weekend in February, access for 3 months following)
Theo of Golden, Allen Levi
Every Moment Holy, Vol. 3, Douglas Kaine McKelvey
The end of the school year and the end of this podcast season is cause to pause and reflect. The ADE ladies review the past year and encourage you to not just slam the books closed, but pause to remember the good and give thanks. We also encourage you to take some time this summer to listen to old episodes as you plan for the upcoming school year. Finally, we have a big announcement to make about the coming season. We close this episode with a fitting devotional to help you gain perspective on the value of the past year and inspire you for what lies ahead.
Episode 241: Seasonal Reflections
Seasonal Reflection Questions
Episodes by Topic
Numerical Listing of Episodes
ADE at HOME {Virtual} Conference (First weekend in February each year, access for 3 months following)
Teacher Training Videos
Teacher Helps
ADE's Patreon Community
As Charlotte Mason Homeschoolers, we all know the challenge it is to find balance in all the other parts of life besides our school lessons. With so many priorities and responsibilities, it is imperative that we continue to evaluate and seek to find balance in our lives. In this podcast episode Emily, Liz, and Nicole discuss the challenges, mistakes, and tips they have for balancing relationships, home responsibilities, service, and ministry opportunities.
CM Simple Languages
www.livingbookpress.com Use code "delectable" at check out to receive 10% off your order
Melissa Petermann's Video: Mindset, Margin, and Tactics
ADE's Teacher Training Videos
ADE's Patreon Community
This season, as we explore finding balance in the Charlotte Mason Method, we are interviewing people who have been able to find balance in their various contexts. This episode is an interview with Sarah Potter who made a big change in her homeschool after graduating the first of her six children and enrolling her remaining students in a not-so-local hybrid CM Cottage School. Sarah shares the factors that led her to make this decision, the hard parts as well as the wonderful benefits her family has experienced being a part of Living Education Academy.
www.livingbookpress.com Use code "delectable" at check out to receive 10% off your order
Living Education Academy
ADE's Teacher Helps
ADE's Patreon Community
Often when we encounter a difficulty in our Charlotte Mason education, the problem lies not in the books and materials, but rather in a mismatch between our expectations and the reality we see before us. In this episode of the podcast, we explore the unbalanced expectations we consciously and unconsciously embrace that are at odds with the outcomes Charlotte Mason expected. In returning to the principles of our educational method, we can find balance, and thereby, peace.
"If we realise that the mind and knowledge are like two members of a ball and socket joint, two limbs of a pair of scissors, fitted to each other, necessary to each other and acting only in concert, we shall understand that our function as teachers is to supply children with the rations of knowledge which they require; and that the rest, character and conduct, efficiency and ability...take care of themselves." (6/241)
"We need not ask what the girl or boy likes. She very often likes the twaddle of goody-goody storybooks, he like condiments, highly-spices tales of adventure. We are all capable of liking mental food of a poor quality." (3/168)
"It is a wide progamme founded on the educational rights of man; wide, but we may not say it is impossible nor may we pick and choose and educate him in this direction but not that...Our part it seems to me is to give a child a vital hold upon as many as possible of those relationships proper to him." (6/157)
"Therefore, if the business of teaching be to furnish the child with ideas, any teaching which does not leave him possessed of a new mental image has, by so far, missed its mark. It is not too much to say that a morning in which a child receives no new idea is a morning wasted, however closely the little student has been kept at his books." (1/173)"If it is the best a child can do and shows interest and effort, then it is satisfactory or 'good'" (Exam Pamphlet)
Beauty & Truth Math
Episode 272: CM on Children Liking Their Books
Notes of Lessons: Sample lessons from CM trained teachers in her training college
Episode 233: Method of Lessons
Episode 229: Exams
Examination and the P.U.S.Pamphlet
ADE's Exam Planner: A Teacher Help for preparing and executing exams for all Form Levels
Living Book Press
ADE Teacher Training Videos
Charlotte Mason viewed all educational possibilities as fitting into one or the other of two schools of philosophy: Materialism and Idealism. Instead, she offers a "middle way," a new path that draws on the strengths of both schools. The portion of Parents and Children where she discusses these ideas is dense. In this episode of the podcast, Jessica Becker guides us through what Miss Mason had to say, and, more importantly, why it is essential for parents and teachers to find balance between these two educational extremes.
Parents and Children (Volume 2), Charlotte Mason, chapters 11-13
"Probably the chief source of weakness in our attempt to formulate a science of education is that we do not perceive that education is the outcome of philosophy. We deal with the issue and ignore the source. Hence our efforts lack continuity and definite aim. We are content to pick up a suggestion here, a practical hint there, without even troubling ourselves to consider what is that scheme of life of which such hints and suggestions are the output." (2/118)
"Method implies two things-a way to an end, and step-by-step progress in that way." (1/8)
"We need not aspire to a complete and exhaustive code of educational laws. This will· come to us duly when humanity bas, so to speak, fulfilled itself. Meantime, we have enough to go on with if we would believe it. What we have to do is to gather together and order our resources ; to put the first thing foremost and all things in sequence, and to see that education is neither more nor less than the practical application of our philosophy. Hence, if our educational thought is to be sound and effectual we must look to the philosophy which underlies it, and must be in a condition to trace every counsel of perfection for the bringing-up of children to one or other of the two schools of philosophy of which it must needs be the outcome." (2/119-120)
"Is our system of education to be the issue of naturalism or of idealism, or is there indeed a media via?" (2/120)
"The truth is, we are in the throes of an educational revolution ; we are emerging from chaos rather than about to plunge into it; we are beginning to recognise that education is the applied science of life, and that we really have existing material in the philosophy of the ages and the science of the day to formulate an educational code whereby we may order the lives of our children and regulate our own." (2/119)
"The functions of education may be roughly defined as twofold : (a) the formation of habits; (b) the presentation of ideas. The first depends far more largely than we recognise on physiological processes. The second is purely spiritual in origin, method, and result. Is it not possible that here we have the meeting-point of the two philosophies which have divided mankind since men began to think about their thoughts and ways? Both are right ; both are necessary; both have their full activity in the development of a human being at his best." (2/125)
"For a habit is set up by following out an initial idea with a long sequence of corresponding acts. You tell a child that the Great Duke slept in so narrow a bed that he could not turn over, because, said he, ' When you want to turn over it's time to get up.' The boy does not wish to get up in the morning, but he does wish to be like the hero of Waterloo. You stimulate him to act upon this idea day after day for a month or so, until the habit is formed, and it is just as easy as not to get up in good time." (2/125)
"You may bring your horse to the water, but you can't make him drink; and you may present ideas of the fittest to the mind of the child; but you do not know in the least which he will take, and which he will reject." (2/127)
"Our part is to see that his educational plat is constantly replenished with fit and inspiring ideas, and then we must needs leave it to the child's own appetite to take which he will have, and as much as he requires." (2/127)
"We shall not be content that they learn geography, history, Latin, what not,-we shall ask what salient ideas are presented in each such study, and how will these ideas affect the intellectual and moral development of the child." (2/127)
"We shall probably differ from him in many matters of detail, but we shall most likely be inclined to agree with his conclusion that, not some subject of mere utility, but moral and social science conveyed by means of history, literature, or otherwise, is the one subject which we are not at liberty to leave out from the curriculum of' a being breathing thoughtful breath.'" (2/127-28)
"Two things are necessary. First, we must introduce into the study of each science the philosophic spirit and method, general views, the search for the most general principles and conclusions. We must then reduce the different sciences to unity by a sound training in philosophy, which will be as obligatory to students in science as to students in literature. . . • Scientific truths, said Descartes, are battles won ; describe to the young the principal and most heroic of these battles; you will thus interest them in the results of science, and you will develop in them a scientific spirit by means of the enthusiasm for the conquest of truth; you will make them see the power of the reasoning which has led to discoveries in the past, and which will do so again in the future. How interesting arithmetic and geometry might be if we gave a short history of their principal theorems; if the child were mentally present at the labours of a Pythagoras, a Plato, a Euclid, or in modern times of a Viete, a Descartes, a Pascal, or a Leibnitz. Great theories, instead of being lifeless and anonymous abstractions, would become human, living truths, each with its own history, like a statue by Michael Angelo, or like a painting by Raphael." (2/128)
Atomic Habits, James Clear
String, Straightedge and Shadow, Julia Diggins
Men, Microscopes and Living Things, Katherine Shippen
Nicole's Form 3-4 Biology Science Guide
AWAKEN: A Living Books Conference
Episode 167: Method vs. System
Raphael's School of Athens
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Charlotte Mason firmly believed that novels are our greatest teachers, hence why she included them as a major serving in the feast that nourishes our children's education. This episode was recorded live at the ADE At Home conference, February 7, 2025, with Nicole, Emily, and Liz leading a discussion with attendees who had read the book and come to what they gleaned from Miss Gaskell's groundbreaking and somewhat controversial novel, Ruth. If you have read the book, you will enjoy listening to what we all gleaned from this story, and if you have not, you will be inspired to read it.
Ruth, Elizabeth Gaskell
Sabbath Mood Homeschool's Living Science Curriculum
A Delectable Education's Teacher Helps
This season, as we explore finding balance in the Charlotte Mason Method, we are interviewing people who have been able to find balance in their various contexts. This episode is an interview with Angie Cole, a home-educating mom from Arizona, who has cultivated unique learning communities for herself and her four children. We understand the need for balance in determining how to incorporate social time and group learning while homeschooling and protecting morning lesson time. Angie has a lot of wisdom and experience to share with us!
Charlotte Mason Simple Languages
Charlotte Mason in Community
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www.livingbookpress.com Use code "delectable" at check out to receive 10% off your order
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It goes without saying that life is full of transitions, and a Charlotte Mason Education is no exception. From beginning school lessons with one child to adding subsequent students, moving into higher levels, or bringing older students into the Method for the first time, this episode discusses the multitudinous transitions we, and our students, make over the course of our education and how to avoid pitfalls while seeking balance.
AWAKEN: A Living Books Conference
Episode 292: Balancing Time--School Schedules
Transcript Planner
Subjects by Form Page -- See what subjects CM assigned for each Form (grades) level, and find the relevant podcast episodes on each subject.
Episode 274: Gaining Independence
Living Book Press
ADE Teacher Helps
In today's podcast episode, we bring you a session from the 2024 ADE at HOME {Virtual} Conference. LaShawne Thomas presented a session full of ideas and possibilities for navigating homeschooling when seasons of transition arise (and sometimes hang around) in our lives. A long-time Charlotte Mason educator and former Navy wife, LaShawne has experienced her fair share of upheavals and transitions and has much wisdom to share with us.
Our Country and Its People, Monroe & Buckbee
Strayer-Upton Practical Arithmetic
ADE at HOME 2025 {Virtual} Conference
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Picture Study Portfolios
Simply Charlotte Mason's Elementary Arithmetic Series
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This week on the podcast, we are discussing the principles behind Charlotte Mason's School Schedules. First we look at the whole year's schedule, why three terms, and options we have for today's students. Then, we turn our focus to the daily schedule and how we can bring much needed balance to our education. We hope you take away principles, rather than rules, and gain clarity on how our seemingly mundane choices have such a large impact on our students.
“It is impossible to overstate the importance of this habit of attention. It is, ..., ‘within the reach of everyone, and should be made the primary object of all mental discipline’; for whatever the natural gifts of the child, it is only so far as the habit of attention is cultivated in him that he is able to make use of them.” (1/146)
“...if the [student] is to get two or three hours intact [in the afternoon], she will owe it to her mother's firmness as much as to her good management. In the first place, that the school tasks be done, and done well, in the assigned time, should be a most fixed law. The young people will maintain that it is impossible, but let the mother insist; she will thereby cultivate the habit of attention." (5/195)
“It is well to make up our mind that there is always a next thing to be done, whether in work or play; and that the next thing, be it ever so trifling, is the right thing; not so much for its own sake, perhaps, as because, each time we insist upon ourselves doing the next thing, we gain power in the management of that unruly filly, Inclination. …
"At first it requires attention and thought. But mind and body get into the way of doing most things; and the person, whose mind has the habit of singling out the important things and doing them first, saves much annoyance to himself and others, and has gained in Integrity. ...
"In the end, integrity makes for gaiety, because the person who is honest about his work has time to play, and is not secretly vexed by the remembrance of things left undone or ill done.” (4-1/171-2)
Deep Work, Cal Newport
The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt
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ADE at HOME 2025 {Virtual} Conference
Episode 82 on Holiday Pursuits and Activities
Episode 287: Finding Balance in Life with Michelle Reisgraf
Episode 264: The Time-Table
The Parents' Educational Course List
Episode 258: Afternoons
Living Book Press
ADE Teacher Helps
This season, as we explore finding balance in the Charlotte Mason Method, we are interviewing people who have been able to find balance in their various contexts. This episode is an interview with Helen Swaveley, a seasoned home-educating parent, as she offers her perspective on how the Charlotte Mason's method gives balance to our students in high school and beyond.
Waverley, Sir Walter Scott
A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens
ADE at HOME {Virtual} Conference 2025
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This Charlotte Mason podcast episode is a re-aired, re-visit to a common question we receive: bringing children into the Mason method from previous school experiences. What are the approaches that help children of various ages transition, what are realistic expectations, and how do we help them adjust to a different way of doing lessons?
"The success of such a school demands rare qualities in the teacher––high culture, some knowledge of psychology and of the art of education; intense sympathy with the children, much tact, much common sense, much common information, much 'joyousness of nature,' and much governing power..." (Vol. 1, p. 178)
"Our aim in Education is to give a Full Life.––We begin to see what we want. Children make large demands upon us. We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. Thou hast set my feet in a large room; should be the glad cry of every intelligent soul. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking––the strain would be too great––but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest. We cannot give the children these interests; we prefer that they should never say they have learned botany or conchology, geology or astronomy. The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?" (Vol. 3, p. 170-171)
I Buy a School, Marion Berry
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A perennial question those interested in the Charlotte Mason Method want to find out is how children raised in the method fare as they move on from homeschooling. At the 2024 ADE at HOME {Virtual} Conference Jono Kiser talked with three former CM students about their adjustment and experience. We bring you the audio from this interview as part of our occasional Voices of the Conference series.
Ender's Game, Card
Ourselves, Charlotte Mason
Much Ado about Nothing, Shakespeare
The Winter's Tale, Shakespeare
The Hiding Place, ten Boom
The Elements of Style, Strunk & White
Beauty & Truth Math
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The Charlotte Mason Method is an all-encompassing method of education for all of life, and therefore, there are many ways we can fall out of balance as we apply it in our homes and schools. Today, we are discussing the pitfalls of imbalance we face as relates to our students doing the work of their education. We discuss finding the balance between challenging our students but not pushing them, how the wide curriculum meets them where they are at without pigeonholing them, and how we teachers must practice Masterly Inactivity to allow them to do the work of their own education.
“A Code of Education in the Gospels, expressly laid down by Christ. It is summed up in three commandments … Take heed that ye OFFEND not––DESPISE not––HINDER not––one of these little ones.” (1/12)
“Therefore we do not feel it is lawful in the early days of a child's life to select certain subjects for his education to the exclusion of others; … but we endeavour that he shall have relations of pleasure and intimacy established with as many as possible of the interests proper to him; not learning a slight or incomplete smattering about this or that subject, but plunging into vital knowledge, with a great field before him which in all his life he will not be able to explore.” (3/223)
“Our deadly error is to suppose that we are his showman to the universe; and, not only so, but that there is no community at all between child and universe unless such as we choose to set up.” (3/188)
Living Book Press -- Our Season Sponsor: Secrets of the Universe
Awaken: A Living Books Conference -- April 4-5, 2025
Episode 204, which covers Points 9 & 10 of CM's Short Synopsis
Episode 266: The Unity of the Charlotte Mason Method: How a CM Curriculum is a cohesive whole
Episode 286: Finding Balance in Our Teaching
ADE at HOME 2025 {Virtual} Conference
Episode 108: Masterly Inactivity
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This season, as we explore finding balance in the Charlotte Mason Method, we are interviewing people who have been able to find balance in their various contexts. This episode is an interview with Michelle Riesgraf to learn how she balances her very full life as CM homeschooling mom and wife with all her other duties with her family serving inner-city kids on a working farm. While she shares specific challenges of her farming life, Michelle offers wisdom for us all in parenting, educating (and choosing co-ops), and living as the born persons we all are.
For the Children's Sake, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
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The Charlotte Mason Method is an all-encompassing method of education for all of life, and therefore, there are many ways we can fall out of balance as we apply it in our homes and schools. Today, we are discussing the pitfalls of imbalance we face as relates to our teaching. From how we ourselves learn about the method, to combining multiple students; helping our students become more independent or making modifications for individual students. Miss Mason has timeless wisdom to offer us, and she knows we are equipped as mothers to be the primary agent of education for our children.
"The mother is qualified," says Pestalozzi, "and qualified by the Creator Himself, to become the principal agent in the development of her child..." (1/2)
"N.B. 1. — In home schoolrooms where there are children in A as well as in B, both forms may work together, doing the work of A or B as they are able." (P.U.S. Programmes)
"...so soon as the child can read at all, he should read for himself, and to himself..." (1/227)
"You may bring your horse to the water, but you can't make him drink ; and you may present ideas of the fittest to the mind of the child ; but you do not know in the least which he will take, and which he will reject." (2/127)
"The teacher's part is, in the first place, to see what is to be done, to look over the work of the day in advance and see what mental discipline, as well as what vital knowledge, this and that lesson afford; and then to set such questions and such tasks as shall give full scope to his pupils' mental activity." (3/180-181)
"Meantime , we sometimes err, I think, in taking a part for the whole, and a part of a part for the whole of that part." (3/148-149)
Living Book Press' Charlotte Mason Volumes
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Episode 82 -- CM's thought on Holidays
Read-Aloud Revival Episode with Dr. Pakaluk
Episode 4: -- Three Tools of Education
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This season, as we explore finding balance in the Charlotte Mason Method, we are interviewing people who have been able to find balance in their various contexts. This episode is an interview with Susanne Norris, a full-time homeschool mom and missionary. She has wise words to share with all of us, even if we're not in full-time ministry!
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One of the distinctives of the Charlotte Mason Method is that it is relational education. The Method also applies to all of life, and so we start with the foundational relationship in our students' lives: their relationship with their parents. In this episode of the podcast, we look at the two extremes, and learn from Charlotte Mason how to strike a balance that leads to life--for both parent and child.
School Education, Volume 3 of the Home Education Series by Charlotte M. Mason, chapters 1-3
"...it is far easier to govern from a height, as it were, than from the intimacy of close personal contact. But you cannot be quite frank and easy with beings who are obviously of a higher and of another order than yourself." (3/4)
"Parents and teachers, because their subjects are so docile and so feeble, are tempted more than others to the arbitrary temper..." (3/11)
"Autocracy is defined as independent or self-derived power...Autocracy has ever a drastic penal code, whether in the kingdom, the school, or the family. It has, too, many commandments. 'Thou shalt' and 'thou shalt not' ... The tendency to assume self-derived power is common to us all, even the meekest of us, and calls for special watchfulness; the more so, because it shows itself fully as often in remitting duties and in granting indulgences as in inflicting punishments." (3/15-16)
"Locke promulgated the doctrine of the infallible reason. That doctrine accepted, individual reason becomes the ultimate authority, and every man is free to do that which is right in his own eyes...the principle of the infallible reason is directly antagonistic to the idea of authority." (3/5-6)
"[B]ut wise parents steer a middle course. They are careful to form habits upon which the routine of life runs easily, and, when the exceptional event requires a new regulation, they may make casual mention of their reasons for having so and so done ; or, if this is not convenient and the case is a trying one, they give the children the reason for all obedience-"for this is right." In a word, authority avoids, so far as may be, giving cause of offence." (3/22)
"[A]uthority is vested in the office and not in the person; that the moment it is treated as a personal attribute it is forfeited. We know that a person in authority is a person authorised ; and that he who is authorised is under authority." (3/12)
"Authority is neither harsh nor indulgent. She is gentle and easy to be entreated in all matters immaterial, just because she is immovable in matters of real importance; for these, there is always a fixed principle. It does not, for example, rest with parents and teachers to dally with questions affecting either the health or the duty of their children. They have no authority to allow children in indulgences... Authority is alert; she knows all that is going on and is aware of tendencies...It sometimes happens that children, and not their parents, have right on their side: a claim may be made or an injunction resisted, and the children are in opposition to parent or teacher. It is well for the latter to get the habit of swiftly and imperceptibly reviewing the situation; possibly, the children may be in the right, and the parent may gather up his wits in time to yield the point graciously and send the little rebels away in a glow of love and loyalty." (3/17)
"Authority is that aspect of love which parents present to their children; parents know it is love, because to them it means continual self-denial, self-repression, self-sacrifice: children recognise it as love, because to them it means quiet rest and gaiety of heart." (3/24)
"The constraining power should be present, but passive, so that the child may not feel himself hemmed in without choice. That free-will of man, which has for ages exercised faithful souls who would prefer to be compelled into all righteousness and obedience, is after all a pattern for parents. The child who is good because he must be so, loses in power of initiative more than he gains in seemly behaviour. Every time a child feels that he chooses to obey of his own accord, his power of initiative is strengthened." (3/31)
"We shall give children space to develop on the lines of their own characters in all right ways, and shall know how to intervene effectually to prevent those errors which, also, are proper to their individual characters." (3/35)
"'Wise passiveness.' It indicates the power to act, the desire to act, and the insight and self-restraint which forbid action. But there is, from our point of view at any rate, a further idea conveyed in 'masterly inactivity.' The mastery is not over ourselves only; there is also a sense of authority, which our children should be as much aware of when it is inactive as when they are doing our bidding." (3/28)
"Further, though the emancipation of the children is gradual, they acquiring day by day more of the art and science of self-government, yet there comes a day when the parents, right to rule is over; there is nothing left for them but to abdicate gracefully, and leave their grown-up sons and daughters free agents, even though these still live at home; and although, in the eyes of their parents, they are not fit to be trusted with the ordering of themselves: if they fail in such self-ordering, whether as regards time, occupations, money, friends, most likely their parents are to blame for not having introduced them by degrees to the full liberty which is their right as men and women. Anyway, it is too late now to keep them in training; fit or unfit, they must hold the rudder for themselves." (2/17)
Living Book Press' Charlotte Mason Volumes
Living Book Press -- Our Season Sponsor
Episode 115: Authority and Docility, Part 1
Episode 116: Authority and Docility, Part 2
Episode 201: Short Synopsis Points 1-4
Episode 191: The Home Story
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As we discuss ways to bring balance to our lives using the Charlotte Mason Method, our first focus is on our Priorities. We can fall off on either side of the horse: Making school all-important, or pushing it to the back burner. Miss Mason has excellent advice for how to avoid either extreme, and the ADE ladies share their own experiences with imbalance.
"...this is a delightful thing to remember, every time we do a thing helps to form the habit of doing it; and to do a thing a hundred times without missing a chance, makes the rest easy." (4/I/209)
"[H]e learns that one time is NOT 'as good as another;' that there is no right time left for what is not done in its own time..." (1/142)
Living Book Press' Charlotte Mason Volumes
CM Simple Languages
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Episode 264: The Time-table
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A Delectable Education is back for its Tenth year! We have grown a lot over these past 9 years, and so has the Charlotte Mason Community. We are honored to be here sharing with you all still. In this episode we are sharing some big announcements like our 5th Annual Parents' Educational Course Reading List, our 5th Annual Online Conference (coming February 2025) and new Teacher Helps and Training Videos to help your school year go smoothly. We're glad you're here with us.
Ruth by Elizabeth Gaskell -- 2025 ADE Book Club selection. Living Book Press has produced a special edition just for our book club.
Every Moment Holy, Volume 3
Living Book Press: Our first ever season-long sponsor!
Charlotte Mason Digital Collection
2024-25 Parents' Educational Course: A suggested reading list curated for the modern CM educator
Teacher Helps: Products we've created to help you plan, forecast, and implement lessons
Physical Geography Teacher Helps
History Tools Planner
Folk Dance Resource
A Short Grammar of the English Tongue, Year 2
Short Talks Collection
Teacher Training Videos
Good and Dangerous Books, Jono Kiser
CM Through High School, Nicole Williams
Instructing the Conscience, Jessica Becker
Form 1 Natural History Demo Lesson
Form 2 Geography Demo Lesson
Form 2 Dictation Demo Lesson
ADE at HOME 2025: Our fifth annual {Virtual} Conference, check back for more details in November. Registration begins November 29, 2024. February 7-8, 2025 through May 7, 2025.
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The end of the school year and the end of this podcast season is cause to pause and reflect. The ADE ladies review the past year and encourage you to not just slam the books closed, but pause to remember the good and give thanks. We also provide a great number of helpful episodes and resources as you plan for the upcoming school year. The episode closes with a fitting devotional to help you gain perspective on the value of the past year and inspire you for what lies ahead.
“Every mother, especially, should keep a diary in which to note the successive phases of her child’s physical, mental, and moral growth, with particular attention to the moral.” (2/105-106)
Episode 241: Seasonal Reflections
Seasonal Reflection Questions
Episode 280: The Simplicity of the Charlotte Mason Method
Episodes by Topic
ADE at HOME {Virtual} Conference (First weekend in February each year, access for 3 months following)
Teacher Training Videos
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Parents' Educational Course
Episode 232: Forecasting Lessons -- How to plan
Forecasting Teacher Training Video
Form Overviews:
- Form IB Overview
- Form IA Overview
- Form IIB Overview
- Form IIA Overview
- Form III Overview
- Forms IV-VI Overview
Subjects By Form
Episode 162: Creating Your Own CM Curriculum
Curriculum Templates
Episode 278: Trusting the Method Through Your Curriculum
Schedule Cards
Episode 264: The Time-Table
Episode 33: Scheduling a CM Education
Awaken: Living Books Conference July 26-27, 2024
There seems to be a common misconception that Charlotte Mason's Method is complicated and difficult to understand. While it does take time to grow in our understanding, what we find instead, at its heart, is a simple, cohesive applied philosophy that we CAN understand. Join us on the podcast today as we distill some of the barriers we place for ourselves that make it seem more difficult than it is to follow her method, and enumerate some of the key distinctives of this living method of education.
"The reader will say with truth,-" I knew all this before and have always acted more or less on these principles; " and I can only point to the unusual results we obtain through adhering not ' more or less,' but strictly to the principles and practices I have indicated." (6/19)
"With this thought of a child to begin with, we shall perceive that whatever is stale and flat and dull to us must needs be stale and flat and dull to him, and also that there is no subject which has not a fresh and living way of approach." (2/278)
"Whether the way I have sketched out is the right and the only way remains to be tested still more widely than in the thousands of cases in which it has been successful; but assuredly education is slack and uncertain for the lack of sound principles exactly applied." (6/19-20)
Beauty & Truth Math
Episode 263: What Does it Mean to Trust the Method?
Episode 182: Visualization
Episode 266: The Unity of the Charlotte Mason Method
Episode 278: Trusting the Method Through Our Curriculum
Episode 272: CM on Children Liking Their Books
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This season, we are interviewing experienced Charlotte Mason moms, inviting them to tell us how they've come to "Trust the Method." In today's episode Sandy Johnson, mom of three, joins us to reflect on her homeschool journey and how she came to trust Charlotte Mason's Method. As she has graduated her oldest daughter who is now in college, Sandy reflects on her own education, and how different the education she is giving her children is. With humility and strength, Sandy shares her family's personal struggles and points us to the Hope we all need.
Charlotte Mason's Home Education Series (Audiobook)
Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
David Copperfield, Charles Dickens
Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
Destiny of the Republic, Candice Millard
Awaken Living Books Conference
Episode 276: ADE Book Discussion: Vanity Fair
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As we near the end of this season-long discussion on "Trusting the Method" we turn our attention to the curriculum itself. How can we choose curriculum that Trusts Charlotte Mason's Method? How can we evaluate whether a resource or curriculum follows the method in part or whole? How do we decide if we even want to trust the method with our curriculum?
"N.B.1 In home schoolrooms where there are children in A as well as in B, both forms may work together, doing the work of A or B as they are able, but more work must be expected from I A." (All P.U.S. Programmes)
Arabella Buckley's Eyes and No-Eyes Series Here and Here
Strayer-Upton Practical Arithmetics
Beauty & Truth Math
Episode 263: What Does it Mean to Trust the Method?
Charlotte Mason's Curriculum Programmes
Episode 70: CM Purists
Visual Latin
ADE's Teacher Helps
Episode 6: Living Books
Episode 7: Recognizing Living Books
Episode 8: Narration 2.0
Episode 3: The Role of the Teacher
Episode 5: The Power of Connection
ADE's Episodes by Topic
Charlotte Mason's Short Synopsis:
- Points 1-4
- Points 5-8
- Points 9-12
- Points 13-15
- Points 16-19
- Point 20
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This season, we are interviewing experienced Charlotte Mason moms, inviting them to tell us how they've come to "Trust the Method." In today's episode, as she prepares to graduate her oldest student this spring, Morgan Conner joins us to reflect on her homeschool journey and how she came to trust Charlotte Mason's Method. After jumping from one curriculum to the next, once Morgan discovered Charlotte Mason, she never looked back, but that doesn't mean it has always been easy. You will glean much from Morgan's vulnerability and honesty as she describes overcoming her perfectionistic tendencies and learned to trust the Lord with even the smallest details with her neurodiverse students.
For the Children's Sake, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Northanger Abbey, Jane Austen
Q&A about Nature Walks
Podcast Episode on Forecasting
Forecasting Teacher Training Workshop
Morgan's episode on Reading Charlotte Mason's Volumes
Morgan's episode on Planning Physical Geography Lessons
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Charlotte Mason firmly believed that novels are our greatest teachers, hence why she included them as a major serving in the feast that nourishes our children's education. This episode was recorded live at the ADE At Home conference, February 2, 2024, with Nicole, Emily, and Liz leading a discussion with attendees who had read the book and come to contribute what they had been taught by William Makepeace Thackeray's classic novel Vanity Fair. If you have read the book, you will revel in the myriad messages this book conveyed to us all, and if you have not, you will be inspired to read it.
Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
Talkbox.mom
This season, we are interviewing experienced Charlotte Mason moms, inviting them to tell us how they've come to "Trust the Method." In today's episode, Jami Hurt, mom of two homeschool graduates tells us about her experience with Charlotte Mason Homeschooling, and the joys she is witnessing with her boys who have now launched their own lives in young adulthood.
For the Children's Sake, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Destiny of the Republic, Candice Millard
ADE's Patreon Community
As home educators trying to spread the wide feast of a Charlotte Mason education for multiple children, we feel the need to have our students working independently. But how do we get them there? Join Liz, Nicole, and Emily as they discuss the rewards and challenges with practical advice for how to help our children grow in independence--in school lessons and beyond.
“As we have already urged, there is but one right way, that is, children must do the work for themselves. They must read the given pages and tell what they have read, they must perform, that is, what we may call the act of knowing." (6/99)
“One of the features, and one of the disastrous features, of modern society, is that, in our laziness, we depend upon prodders and encourage a vast system of prodding.” (3/39)
"...parents who have always satisfied the intellectual craving of their children must needs forego the delight of watching a literary awakening." (3/123)
“The children must know themselves to be let alone, whether to do their own duty or to seek their own pleasure. The constraining power should be present, but passive, so that the child may not feel himself hemmed in without choice. That free-will of man, which has for ages exercised faithful souls who would prefer to be compelled into all righteousness and obedience, is after all a pattern for parents. The child who is good because he must be so, loses in power of initiative more than he gains in seemly behaviour. Every time a child feels that he chooses to obey of his own accord, his power of initiative is strengthened.” (3/31)
"A parent may be willing to undergo any definite labours for his child's sake; but to be always catering for his behoof, always contriving that circumstances shall play upon him for his good, is the part of a god and not of a man!" (1/10)
"Make children happy and they will be good,' is absolutely true, but does it develop that strenuousness, the first condition of virtue, which comes of the contrary axiom-' Be good and you will be happy'?" (3/57)
"Let her distribute her time as she likes, but count her tale of bricks; let her choose books for her own reading, but know what she chooses; let her choose her own companions, but put before her the principles on which to choose..." (5/245)
The Coddling of the American Mind, Haidt and Lukianoff
Awaken: Living Books Conference
2024 ADE @ Home {Virtual Conference}
Episode 108: Masterly Inactivity
ADE's Patreon Community
At the 2022 ADE at HOME {Virtual} Conference Melissa Petermann of Charlotte Mason PE presented a talk entitled "Mindset, Margin, and Tactics: Homeschooling Through Trials & Chronic Illness." We've invited her onto the podcast this week to discuss some of the practical ways she has found to continue on even on hard days.
"ln the things of science, in the things of art, in the things of practical everyday life, his God doth instruct him and doth teach him, her God doth instruct her and doth teach her. Let this be the mother's key to the whole of the education of each boy and each girl; not of her children; the divine Spirit does not work with nouns of multitude, but with each single child. Because He is infinite, the whole world is not too great a school for this indefatigable Teacher, and because He is infinite, He is able to give the whole of his infinite attention for the whole time to each one of his multitudinous pupils. We do not sufficiently rejoice in the wealth that the infinite nature of our God brings to each of us." (2/273)
"Let the mother go out to play! If she would only have courage to let everything go when life becomes too tense, and just take a day, or half a day , out in the fields, or with a favourite book, or in a picture gallery looking long and well at just two or three pictures, or in bed, without the children, life would go on far more happily for both children and parents. The mother would be able to hold herself in 'wise passiveness,' and would not fret her children by continual interference, even of hand or eye-she would let them be." (3/33-34)
2024 ADE @ Home {Virtual Conference}
Melissa's Swedish Drill Resource
Melissa's Mindset, Margin, and Tactics: Homeschooling Through Trials & Chronic Illness Workshop from the 2022 Conference
Sabbath Mood Homeschool Science Guides
Liz's Grammar Resource
ADE's Patreon Community
How do you determine which books are the "right" books for your children? Charlotte Mason said they must LIKE their books, right? Or did she? We explore the nuances of children's taste and how much a role that should play in our choices of their lesson books in this episode.
“The children must enjoy their books." (3/178) "What manner of book will find its way with upheaving effect into the mind of an intelligent boy or girl? We need not ask what the firl or boy likes. She very often likes the twaddle of goody-goody storybooks, he likes condiments, highly-spiced tales of adventure. We are all capable of liking mental food of a poor quality..." (3/168) "[T]he happiness of the child is the condition of his progress; that his lessons should be joyous, and that occasions of friction in the schoolroom are greatly to be deprecated." (1/178, emphasis added) "Our conception of a child rules our relations towards him. Pour s'amuser is the rule of child-life proper for the 'oyster' theory, and most of our children's books and many of our theories of child-education are based upon this rule. 'Oh! he's so happy,' we say, and are content, believing that if he is happy he will be good; and it is so to a great extent; but in the older days the theory was, if you are good you will be happy; and this is a principle which strikes the keynote of endeavour, and holds good, not only through the childish 'stage of evolution,' but for the whole of life, here and hereafter. The child who has learned to 'endeavour himself' (as the Prayer Book has it) has learned to live." (2/254) "Your opinions about books and other things will very likely be wrong, and you will yourself correct them by and by when you have read more, thought more, know more. Indeed, no wise person, however old, is sure of his opinions." (4/I/183-84) "A child has not begun his education until he has acquired the habit of reading to himself, with interest and pleasure, books fully on a level with his intelligence. I am speaking now of his lesson-books, which are all too apt to be written in a style of insufferable twaddle, probably because they are written by persons who have never chanced to meet a child. All who know children know that they do not talk twaddle and do not like it, and prefer that which appeals to their understanding. Their lesson-books should offer matter for their reading, whether aloud or to themselves; therefore they should be written with literary power. As for the matter of these books, let us remember that children can take in ideas and principles, whether the latter be moral or mechanical, as quickly and clearly as we do ourselves (perhaps more so); but detailed processes, lists and summaries, blunt the edge of a child's delicate mind." (1/229) "A corollary of the principle that education is the science of relations, is, that no education seems to be worth the name which has not made children at home in the world of books, and so related them, mind to mind, with thinkers who have dealt with knowledge. We reject epitomes, compilations, and their like, and put into children's hands books which, long or short, are living. Thus it becomes a large part of the teacher's work to help children to deal with their books; so that the oral lesson and lecture are but small matters in education, and are used chiefly to summarise or to expand or illustrate." (3/226) "We are apt to believe that children cannot be interested in the Bible unless its pages be watered down––turned into the slipshod English we prefer to offer them." (1/247-48) "We are determined that the children shall love books, therefore we do not interpose ourselves between the book and the child. We read him his Tanglewood Tales, and when he is a little older his Plutarch, not trying to break up or water down, but leaving the child's mind to deal with the matter as it can." (2/231-32) "The teacher's part in this regard is to see and feel for himself, and then to rouse his pupils by an appreciative look or word; but to beware how he deadens the impression by a flood of talk. Intellectual sympathy is very stimulating; but we have all been in the case of the little girl who said, 'Mother, I think I could understand if you did not explain quite so much.'" (3/178) "The real use of naturalists' books at this stage is to give the child delightful glimpses into the world of wonders he lives in, to reveal the sorts of things to be seen by curious eyes, and fill him with desire to make discoveries for himself." (1/64)
"This sort of weak literature for the children, both in any story and lesson books, is the result of a reactionary process. Not so long ago the current impression was that the children had little understanding, but prodigious memory for facts; dates, numbers, rules, catechisms of knowledge, much information in small parcels, was supposed to be the fitting material for a child's education. We have changed all that, and put into the children's hands lesson-books with pretty pictures and easy talk, almost as good as story-books; but we do not see that, after all, we are but giving the same little pills of knowledge in the form of a weak and copious diluent. Teachers, and even parents, who are careful enough about their children's diet, are so reckless as to the sort of mental aliment offered to them, that I am exceedingly anxious to secure consideration for this question, of the lessons and literature proper for the little people." (1/176)
"In their power of giving impulse and stirring emotion is another use of books, the right books; but that is just the question––which are the right books?––a point upon which I should not wish to play Sir Oracle. The 'hundred best books for the schoolroom' may be put down on a list, but not by me. I venture to propose one or two principles in the matter of school-books, and shall leave the far more difficult part, the application of those principles, to the reader." (3/177)
"Children cannot answer questions set on the wrong book; and the difficulty of selection is increased by the fact that what they like in books is no more a guide than what they like in food." (6/248)
Mystery and Manners, Flannery O'Connor
Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray
Moby Dick, Herman Melville
Arabella Buckley's Eyes and No Eyes series
Talkbox.mom
2024 ADE @ Home {Virtual Conference}
Episode 269: Jono Kiser on Good and Dangerous Books
Episode 6: Living Books
Episode 7: Recognizing Living Books
Episode 119: Q&A on the Arabella Buckley Books
ADE's Patreon Community
This season, we are interviewing experienced Charlotte Mason moms, inviting them to tell us how they've come to "Trust the Method." In today's episode, Melanie Verlage, Canadian mom of four girls tells us about her transition from public school to Charlotte Mason Homeschooling, and the surprising joys she's witnessed over the last six years.
The Body, Bill Bryson
Episode 269: Voices from the Conference with Jono Kiser
ADE's Personal Curriculum Consultations
ADE's Patreon Community
Can you make a child care about their education? Or about anything, let alone the many things that Charlotte Mason commended? We tackle these questions in this episode of the podcast, exploring the reasons for a seeming indifference in our students as well as how we can come alongside them and help them grow in their love for knowledge.
“Our aim in Education is to give a Full Life.- We begin to see what we want. Children make large demands upon us. We owe it to them to hast set my feet in a large room,' should be the glad cry of every intelligent soul. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time ; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking-the strain would be too great-but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest. We cannot give the children these interests; we prefer that they should never say they have learned botany or conchology, geology or astronomy. The question is not,-how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education-but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him ? I know you may bring a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink. What I complain of is that we do not bring our horse to the water. We give him miserable little text-books, mere compendiums of facts, which he is to learn off and say and produce at an examination; or we give him various knowledge in the form of warm diluents, prepared by his teacher with perhaps some grains of living thought to the gallon. And all the time we have books, books teeming with ideas fresh from the minds of thinkers upon every subject to which we can wish to introduce children." (3/171-172) "I know you may bring a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink. What I complain of is that we do not bring our horse to the water. We give him miserable little text-books, mere compendiums of facts, which he is to learn off and say and produce at an examination; or we give him various knowledge in the form of warm diluents, prepared by his teacher with perhaps some grains of living thought to the gallon. And all the time we have books, books teeming with ideas fresh from the minds of thinkers upon every subject to which we can wish to introduce children. The fact is, we undervalue children." (3/172) “In conclusion, the parent must educate himself up to the level of the child, or if he cannot do this, he must never discourage. Children with their natural irresponsibleness and ignorance of what is in them, will take up various subjects with more or less vigor, only to drop them perhaps, before finally lighting upon the one thing of absorbing interest. Be patient with these vagaries and the litter they make if they are wholesome and healthy; above all do not scoff at this inconsequence, and if their particular hobbies are not according to your especial taste remember that— “There are diversities of gifts, but the same spirit.” (PR 22 p. 792) Spark, John Ratey
Habits of the Household, Justin Whitmel Earley
A Clearing in the Distance: Frederick Law Olmsted and America in the 19th Century, Witold Rybczynski
Talkbox.mom
2024 ADE @ Home {Virtual Conference}
Parents' Educational Course
Episode 113: Service, An Interview with Vanessa Kijewski
Episode 249: Voices from the Conference: Cathy McKay on Teenagers
ADE's Patreon Community
At the 2023 ADE at HOME {Virtual} Conference Jono Kiser of Living Literature presented a talk entitled "Good and Dangerous Books." We've invited him onto the podcast this week to discuss why Charlotte Mason encouraged students to read literature with objectionable content, and what makes these worthy books.
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
Bleak House, Charles Dickens
Ruth, Elizabeth Gaskell
Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
Number the Stars, Lois Lowry
Junkyard Wonders, Patricia Polacco
The Hundred Dresses, Eleanor Estes
2024 ADE @ Home {Virtual Conference}
Areopagitica, John Milton
ADE's Patreon Community
In this episode we return to the topic of Recitation, a distinctive feature of Charlotte Mason's Method. We are focusing on practical ways to help your student develop their skills in Recitation, both the "Mechanical" and the "Sentimental" Branches.
“It will now be seen that I spoke nothing but the truth when I said that reading was an art which had its fixed laws. We have found laws for the emission of the voice, for respiration, for pronunciation, for articulation, and for punctuation ; that is to say, laws for all the material side, the technical part of the art of reading. Let us now pass on to its intellectual aspects.” (Ernest Legouvé. A Short Treatise on Reading Aloud. PR 17, p 436) Hay said, “the first of these two branches ... can in all cases be taught, and the second beyond hints and suggestions for guidance must be left to the taste and judgment of the speaker.” (p. 33-34) What Charlotte Mason called “the fine art of beautiful and perfect speaking.” (1/223) “It will now be seen that I spoke nothing but the truth when I said that reading was an art which had its fixed laws. We have found laws for the emission of the voice, for respiration, for pronunciation, for articulation, and for punctuation ; that is to say, laws for all the material side, the technical part of the art of reading. Let us now pass on to its intellectual aspects.” (Ernest Legouvé. A Short Treatise on Reading Aloud. PR 17, p 436) Hay said, “the first of these two branches ... can in all cases be taught, and the second beyond hints and suggestions for guidance must be left to the taste and judgment of the speaker.” (p. 33-34) The Speaking Voice: Its Development and Preservation, Volume 1, Emil Behnke
The Speaking Voice: Its Development and Preservation, Volume 2, Emil Behnke
The Art of Reading and Speaking, Canon Fleming
How You Talk, Paul Showers
Awaken: Living Books Conferences
Episode 69: Recitation
Episode 179: Recitation Immersion
Nicole's Recitation Handout
Episode 266: The Unity of the CM Method
Arthur Burrell's Recitation: The Children's Art
Mrs Tongue Does Her Housework
2024 ADE @ Home {Virtual Conference}
ADE's Patreon Community
This season, we are interviewing experienced Charlotte Mason moms, inviting them to tell us how they've come to "Trust the Method." In today's episode, Celeste Cruz, mom of eleven children, from infant to seniors in High School, joins us to reflect on her Charlotte Mason Journey.
"Not only confidence in themselves, but confidence in their children, is an element of the masterly inactivity, which I venture to propose to parents as a 'blue teapot' for them 'to live up to.' Believe in the relation of parent and child, and trust the children to believe in it and fulfil it on their part. They will do so if they are not worried." (3/30) "People are naturally divided into those who read and think and those who do not read or think..." (6/31)
Paddle-to-the-Sea, Holling
Holling's Book of Indians
Awaken: Living Books Conference
Episode 264: The Time-Table
Celeste's blog: Joyous Lessons
ADE's Patreon Community
Charlotte Mason's Method can seem confusing and difficult to implement, especially if we view it as a list of do's and don'ts. But when we learn to see it as a unified whole, it is revealed as a truly simple and cohesive method of education.
“Time is insufficient for teachers as well as for scholars. How then find room for a new subject ? Where place it ? What would give way for it ? The answer is easy. The art of reading can only benefit education where it adds nothing, eliminates nothing, supersedes nothing, but by assimilation is our aid to all things. It is not a tax but an aid to memory ; it does not fatigue, but relieves and supports the mind. It is to education what the gastric juice is to the nutritive process : it causes and facilitates digestion ; it is not in itself a new factor, but a component part of all the other factors.” (Short Treatise on Reading Aloud. PR 17, p 129) "The reader will say with truth,-" I knew all this before and have always acted more or less on these principles " ; and I can only point to the unusual results we obtain through adhering not ' more or less,' but strictly to the principles and practices I have indicated. I suppose the difficulties are of the sort that Lister had to contend with ; every surgeon knew that his instruments and appurtenances should be kept clean, but the saving of millions of lives has resulted from the adoption of the great surgeon's antiseptic treatment; that is from the substitution of exact principles scrupulously applied for the rather casual ' more or less ' methods of earlier days." (6/19)
“Therefore we do not feel it is lawful in the early days of a child's life to select certain subjects for his education to the exclusion of others; … but we endeavour that he shall have relations of pleasure and intimacy established with as many as possible of the interests proper to him; not learning a slight or incomplete smattering about this or that subject, but plunging into vital knowledge, with a great field before him which in all his life he will not be able to explore.” (3/223)
"As we have already urged, there is but one right way, that is, children must do the work for themselves." (6/99)
"The children, not the teachers, are the responsible persons ; they do the work by self-effort." (6/241)
"'The mother is qualified,' says Pestalozzi, 'and qualified by the Creator Himself, to become the principal agent in the development of her child ; . . . and what is demanded of her is a thinking love. • • • God has given to thy child all the faculties of our nature, but the grand point remains undecided-how shall this heart, this head, these hands, be employed? to whose service shall they be dedicated? A question the answer to which involves a futurity of happiness or misery to a life so dear to thee. Maternal love is the first agent in education.'" (1/2)
"What we cannot do with Miss Mason's Ideal is to reduce it to lowest terms, and just in so far as we try to, so far we misrepresent it, and misunderstand it. But some of the secret undoubtedly lies in the Programmes of Work; the longer we work from those wonderful programmes the more we realise how well balanced they are; how satisfying to the hungry mind; how the subjects dovetail; how difficult it is to teach history only in history time, how it will 'flow over' into geography, literature, or even into such unexpected channels as arithmetic or botany." (In Memoriam, p. 151)
"Method implies two things -- a way to an end, and step-by-step progress in that way. Further, the following of a method implies an idea, a mental image, of the end or object to be arrived at." (1/8)
"It would seem a far cry from Undine to a' liberal education ' but there is a point of contact between the two ; a soul awoke within a water-sprite at the touch of love; so, I have to tell of the awakening of a ' general soul ' at the touch of knowledge. Eight years ago the ' soul ' of a class of children in a mining village school awoke simultaneously at this magic touch and has remained awake. We know that religion can awaken souls, that love makes a new man, that the call of a vocation may do it, and in the age of the Renaissance , men's souls, the general soul, awoke to knowledge : but this appeal rarely reaches the modern soul ; and, notwithstanding the pleasantness attending lessons and marks in all our schools, I believe the ardour for knowledge in the children of this mining village is a phenomenon that indicates new possibilities. Already many thousands of the children of the Empire had experienced this intellectual conversion, but they were the children of educated persons. To find that the children of a mining population were equally responsive seemed to open a new hope for the world. It may be that the souls of all children are waiting for the call of knowledge to awaken them to delightful living." (6/Preface)
"It is such a temptation to us ordinary folks to emphasize some part at the expense of the rest and so turn a. strength into a weakness. There is only one way to avoid this danger. That is constantly to read and re-read Miss Mason's books, constantly to remind ourselves of her first principles -- for from now onwards Miss Mason's work is in our hands; we dare not leave un-made and effort to keep the truth." (Wix, p. 153)
“Questions there will always be, but if we continually keep in touch with Miss Mason's thought by constant reading of all her books, we shall have a sheaf of principles at command by which we can test the value of this or that criticism, this or that book.” (Franklin. PR 36 p. 419)
Talkbox.mom
Episode 182: Visualization
Episode 235: When the Feast is Too Much
Miss Wix's Article: Miss Mason's Ideal: Its Breadth and Balance
Episode 167: Method vs. System
ADE's Patreon Community
This season, we are interviewing experienced Charlotte Mason moms, inviting them to tell us how they've come to "Trust the Method." In today's episode, Bethany Glosser, mom of six children, teenagers to preschoolers, shares her experiences both successes and "failures" and has important words to bring us about our ultimate hope for our children.
Quotes
Mothers owe 'a thinking love ' to their Children.-"The mother is qualified," says Pestalozzi, "and qualified by the Creator Himself, to become the principal agent in the development of her child ; . . . and what is demanded of her is a thinking love. • • • God has given to thy child all the faculties of our nature, but the grand point remains undecided-how shall this heart, this head, these hands, be employed? to whose service shall they be dedicated? A question the answer to which involves a futurity of happiness or misery to a life so dear to thee. Maternal love is the first agent in education.'' (1/2) "Of the three sorts of knowledge proper to a child,-the knowledge of God, of man, and of the universe,-the knowledge of God ranks first in importance, is indispensable, and most happy-making." (6/158)
Books
For the Children's Sake, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Links
INK Newspaper
Morgan Conner's Reading Lessons
Living Literature Courses with Jono Kiser
Beauty and Truth Math
Climbing Higher Math
ADE's Patreon Community
Charlotte Mason encouraged us to use a time-table to ensure lessons were kept short and varied. Today on the podcast we're talking about this essential tool, why Miss Mason called it the first principle of a well-managed schoolroom, and how we can make one to fit our family today.
"Time-Table; Definite Work in a Given Time. -- I shall have opportunities to enter into some of these points later; meantime, let us look in at a home schoolroom managed on sound principles. In the first place, there is a time-table, written out fairly, so that the child knows what he has to do and how long each lesson is to last. This idea of definite work to be finished in a given time is valuable to the child, not only as training him in habits of order, but in diligence; he learns that one time is not 'as good as another;' that there is no right time left for what is not done in its own time; and this knowledge alone does a great deal to secure the child's attention to his work." (1/142)
“In the first place, there is a time-table, written out fairly, so that the child knows what he has to do and how long each lesson is to last. This idea of definite work to be finished in a given time is valuable to the child, not only as training him in habits of order, but in diligence; he learns that one time is not 'as good as another'; that there is no right time left for what is not done in its own time; and this knowledge alone does a great deal to secure the child's attention to his work.” (1/142)
“It is impossible to overstate the importance of this habit of attention. It is, ..., ‘within the reach of everyone, and should be made the primary object of all mental discipline’; for whatever the natural gifts of the child, it is only so far as the habit of attention is cultivated in him that he is able to make use of them.” (1/146)
"Miss Kitching's introduction to the discussion of this subject involved the following points:
"1. That the P.U.S. time-table is intended to serve simply as a guide to the teacher in making her own, for it stands to reason that no two schoolrooms are identical as regards the work done, or the time allotted it.
"2. That in making her own time-table the teacher must be careful that no two lessons requiring the same mental effort follow one another in close proximity.
"3. That it is better to leave the term's work unfinished, than to rush the pupils through for sake finishing the work set.
"The general outcome of the discussion was to the effect that some modification of the programme and time-table is absolutely necessary, each teacher using her own discretion in the matter. Somebody very wisely remarked that Miss Mason intends the programme to fit the child, and not as some wildly imagine, the child to fit the programme." (L'Umile Pianta, May 1915, pp. 58-59)
"It is evident that the young lady at home has so much in hand, without taking social claims into consideration, that she can have no time for dawdling, and, indeed will have to make a time-table for herself and map out her day carefully to get as much into it as she wishes." (5/261)
Talkbox.mom
Beauty & Truth Math
Episode 258: Afternoons
ADE's Schedule Cards
Schedule Cards in Russian, Spanish, French, Portuguese
ADE's Patreon Community
The theme of this season of A Delectable Education: Charlotte Mason Podcast is "Trust the Method." But what does that mean? Are we just supposed to blindly follow a dead woman's advice from the 19th Century? Emily, Liz, and Nicole discuss these questions and more to help set the stage for the year to come, starting with "Why are you choosing to educate your children in the first place?"
"The object of this organisation is not merely to raise the standard of work in the schoolroom. Our chief wish is that pupils should find knowledge delightful in itself and for its own sake, without thought of marks, places, prizes, or other rewards; and that they should develop an intelligent curiosity about the past and present. Children respond and take to their lessons with keen pleasure if they have even tolerably good teaching; and the want of marks, companionship, or other stimulus is not felt in those home schoolrooms where the interest of knowledge is allowed free play." ("A Liberal Education for All" Pamphlet, 1928, p. 31)
"Those who do not regard education as a vital whole but as a sort of conglomerate of good idea, good plans, traditions and experiences, do well to adopt and adapt any good idea they come across. But our conception of education is of a vital whole, harmonious, living and effective. Therefore, every plan rises out of a principle, and each such principle is a part of a living educational philosophy, and does not very well bear to be broken off and used by itself." ("A Liberal Education for All," p. 33)
“The reader will say with truth,––"I knew all this before and have always acted more or less on these principles"; and I can only point to the unusual results we obtain through adhering not 'more or less,' but strictly to the principles and practices I have indicated. I suppose the difficulties are of the sort that Lister had to contend with; every surgeon knew that his instruments and appurtenances should be kept clean, but the saving of millions of lives has resulted from the adoption of the great surgeon's antiseptic treatment; that is from the substitution of exact principles scrupulously applied for the rather casual 'more or less' methods of earlier days.” (6/19)
“In the matter of education, we are hovering round the truth: that education is not merely a preparation for life, but the work of the lifetime is boldly announced. And, given thus much insight, is it conceivable that the education in question is no more than the cramming of a few text-books? Like religion, education is nothing or it is everything––a consuming fire in the bones. How is it that we do not see, through the hurry of eating and drinking, getting and having, that our prime business here is to raise up a generation better than ourselves?” (5/145-46)
She trusted that parents and teachers do not have to, “develop the person; he is there already, with, possibly, every power that will serve him in his passage through life.” (3/75)
“Like all the great ventures of life, this that I propose to you is a venture of faith, faith in the saving power of knowledge and in the assimilative power of children. Its efficacy depends upon the fact that it is in the nature of things, in the nature of knowledge and in the nature of children. Bring the two together in ways that are sanctioned by the laws of mind and, to use a figure, a chemical change takes place and a new product appears, a person of character and intelligence, an admirable citizen whose own life is too full and rich for him to be an uneasy member of society.” (A Liberal Education for All, No. I. Theory, by Charlotte Mason, https://charlottemasonpoetry.org/a-liberal-education-for-all/)
For the Children's Sake, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Charlotte Mason's Six Volumes
John Taylor Gatto's article
Episode 4: Three Tools of Education
Charlotte Mason's Short Synopsis
Episode 167: Method vs. System
ADE's Patreon Community
A Delectable Education is back for its NINTH year. We have grown a lot over these past 8 years, and so has the Charlotte Mason Community. We are honored to be here sharing with you all still. In this episode we are sharing some big announcements like our 4th Annual Parents' Educational Course Reading List, our 4th Annual Online Conference (coming February 2024) and new Teacher Helps and Training Videos to help your school year go smoothly. We're glad you're here with us.
Vanity Fair, William Makepeace Thackeray 2024 ADE Book Club selection (Find the suggested reading schedule here)
Episodes By Topic: Explore previous episodes grouped by subject
2023-24 Parents' Educational Course: A suggested reading list curated for the modern CM educator
ADE at HOME 2024: Our fourth annual {Virtual} Conference, check back for more details in November. Registration begins November 24, 2023.
Teacher Helps: Products we've created to help you plan, forecast, and implement lessons
Natural History Planner
Form 3-4 Bible Lesson Breakdowns (Revised Form 1-2 Bible Lesson Breakdowns here)
Form 1-2 Literature Breakdowns (Available August 7, 2023)
Upper Forms Geography: If you have previously purchased these, you can re-download the revised copy from your Purchase History
Recitation Planner with optional add-ons for printable Bile Passages
Teacher Training Videos
Sabbath Mood Homeschool Science Curriculum: Nicole has completed her curriculum with High School Ecology
ADE's Patreon Community
The end of the school year and the end of this podcast season is cause to pause and reflect. The ADE ladies review the past year and encourage you to not just slam the books closed, but pause to remember the good and give thanks. The episode closes with a fitting devotional to help you gain perspective on the value of the past year and inspire you for what lies ahead.
Show Notes:
Seven Days that Divide the World, John Lennox
Episode 241: Seasonal Reflections
Seasonal Reflection Questions
ADE at HOME {Virtual} Conference (First weekend in February each year, access for 3 months following)
Awaken: Living Books Conference July 21-22, 2023
ADE's Patreon Community
Parents' Educational Course
Episode 232: Forecasting Lessons -- How to plan
Beyond the Forum Podcast with John Lennox
Charlotte Mason's educational method was worldwide in her day and, thanks to persons like Mariana Mastracchio, this is happening again in our day. This episode closes out the ADE series on Charlotte Mason in Community for this season. It is an inspiring personal account of how one American-Brazilian mother is impacting the country of Brazil to bring Charlotte Mason's method to that Portuguese speaking nation.
Charlotte Mason For All Podcast
Mariana's Podcast and the Mentorship
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Instagram https://www.instagram.com/descobrindocharlottemason/
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Website: https://descobrindocharlottemason.com.br/
Publishing Company, Editora Ideias Vivas
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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/editoraideiasvivas/
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Website: https://editoraideiasvivas.com.br/
Schedule Cards in Russian, Spanish, French, and Portuguese
Charlotte Mason Colombia
Charlotte Mason Online
Charlotte Mason France
Russian language resources:
-www.uchimdoma.com
-https://vk.com/mamauitman (NOTE: May not be accessible in all areas of the world)
-Luda's Video Seminars:
Образование - это атмосфера
Образование - это жизнь
Образование - это дисциплина
Как учить не по учебникам
- Contact Luda if you are interested in a Russian translation of the book For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Charlotte Mason held big gatherings to continue training educators in her method. Some of our formative learning about Charlotte Mason happened through conferences. This interview in the Charlotte Mason in Community series is with Joy Vanderley who hosts the Awaken conference in Traverse City, Michigan, and who shares about some of the joys and work involved in holding a local conference to make this special environment available to people in your area.
A Charlotte Mason Companion, Karen Andreola
Living Literature Courses: Open Registration begins May 1, 2023
Awaken: A Living Books Conference: July 21-22, 2023
Michelle Miller Howard's Children's Preservation Library
TruthQuest History
Charlotte Mason recommended "afternoon occupations" and instructions about them were included in her programmes. Are there particular occupations, specified times and occurrences, and how much does the parent need to superintend these occupations? These and all questions involving afternoon was the focus of the original episode being re-aired, which includes a preliminary conversation from this year about clarifying particulars and eight years more experience of Nicole, Emily, and Liz.
"Then comes 3:45 when the children have an hour's work before tea—handicrafts, singing, painting, picture study are the type of lessons given at this time. Then comes tea, after which the children read and sew and have some time to amuse themselves." ("The Work and Aims of the P.U.S.")
"That the claims of the schoolroom should not be allowed to encroach on the child's right to long hours daily for exercise and investigation." (Vol. 1, p. 177)
"Thus, the morning, after breakfast (the digestion of which lighter meal is not a severe task), is much the best time for lessons and every sort of mental work; if the whole afternoon cannot be spared for out-of-door recreation, that is the time for mechanical tasks such as needlework, drawing, practising; the children's wits are bright enough in the evening, but the drawback to evening work is, that the brain, once excited, is inclined to carry on its labours beyond bed-time, and dreams, wakefulness, and uneasy sleep attend the poor child who has been at work until the last minute. If the elder children must work in the evening, they should have at least one or two pleasant social hours before they go to bed; but, indeed, we owe it to the children to abolish evening 'preparation.'" (Vol. 1, p. 23)
"Five of the thirteen waking hours should be at the disposal of the children; three, at least, of these, from two o'clock to five, for example, should be spent out of doors in all but very bad weather. This is the opportunity for out-of-door work, collecting wild flowers, describing walks and views, etc. (see Home Education). Brisk work and ample leisure and freedom should be the rule of the Home School. The Children's Day will, on the whole, run this: Lessons, 1 1/2 to 4 hours; meals, 2 hours; occupations, 1 to 3 hours; leisure, 5 to 7 hours, according to age. The work not done in its own time should be left undone. Children should not be embarrassed with arrears, and they should have dues sense of the importance of time, and that there is no other time for work not done in its own time. Should the children flag at any time, a day's holiday, a little country excursion, should refresh them." (From Suggestions which accompanied the PNEU Programmes)
"[Referring to the afternoon occupations]...at any time of day, in any division of time, to suit family arrangements; when possible, out of doors." (From Suggestions which accompanied the PNEU Programmes)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education, Part II: Out of Door Life of Children
The Secret World of Weather, Tristan Gooley
Episode 217: The Work and Aims of the P.U.S.
The Parents' Educational Course Reading List
List of Afternoon Occupations
What do it look like do use the Charlotte Mason Method with a group of students? Kelsi Rea joins the ADE ladies today to explain how she went about developing her Charlotte Mason school. Her enthusiasm is contagious and has led to her consulting with dozens of others with the desire to open schools, as well as co-ops.
Charlotte Mason In Community
Kelsi Rea's Website
Emily's succinct description of Charlotte Mason's Method (to get you started coming up with yours)
Heritage Christian Academy
Charlotte Mason firmly believed that novels are our greatest teachers, hence why she included them as a major serving in the feast that nourishes our children's education. This episode was recorded live at the ADE At Home conference, February 3, 2023, with Nicole, Emily, and Liz leading a discussion with attendees who had read the book and come to contribute what they had been taught by Elizabeth Goudge's novel The Scent of Water. If you have read the book, you will revel in the myriad messages this book conveyed to us all, and if you have not, you will be inspired to read it.
For this installment of our ongoing series, CM in Your Community, we are focusing on all the materials available for CM lessons! Mathematics was not a subject Charlotte Mason spoke about a lot, but it was essential, and she thought it beautiful. If you need help in leading your student through upper level math, today's Charlotte Mason in Community interview with Tabitha Wirges and Julie Ryle will prove to be a tremendous encouragement. Listen to two very experienced homeschool moms walk through the mountainous land of algebra and geometry and their contribution toward making this a less daunting task.
Charlotte Mason's method is relevant for every kind of child, which this week's episode verifies. Over two years ago, the ADE ladies were interviewed by Beth Corcoran on her Flamingo Feathers podcast, which focuses on education for children with special needs. Beth has graciously allowed us to post that episode for our listeners, of interest not only to parents with special needs children, but will especially inspire anyone by her introduction that describes how the ADE episode of 2020 has subsequently changed her family's life.
Narration, attention, habits: Charlotte Mason knew they were natural to a child and work together. The ADE ladies welcome Annette Dionisio to the podcast, a mom who has diligently employed the art of narration in all areas of life with her children. Beyond the books, narration is key to our personhood and Annette has found it key to parenting. Enjoy this episode of "Voices from the Conference" as Annette presented two. lessons with her children and caught the attention of our 2022 attendees with her masterful use of a child's natural gift of narration.
Books are not just for school lessons, but as Charlotte Mason concurred, family read-aloud time is essential to the education of a child. Listen in as Emily, Nicole, and Liz reminisce about their own experiences and share an abundance of suggestions for how to make family reading part of your family culture.
Homeschooling with Charlotte Mason's method brings life, more life than we expect. Don't miss this episode from the Charlotte Mason in Our Community series if you wonder about habits, notebook organization, the purpose of handicrafts, service to others, creativity, time management, and productivity. Micah Pettes joins the ADE ladies to discuss the story of how her Charlotte Mason education inspired a family business that is blessing hundreds of other families.
This is a re-release/update to our original Episode #80. Charlotte Mason developed her educational method for all students, but many feel that by high school they must get on to more serious preparation for college or career and abandon the course they have been on. The moms of A Delectable Education discuss the high school years, what studies are tackled, how to deal with college transcripts and applications and college entrance exams. Does Mason's curriculum prepare a child for the real world? Will they be able to succeed in a non-Charlotte Mason environment? What does high school look like if you follow a Mason approach to education?
Homeschooling teenage boys has its own challenges. The ADE ladies welcome Cathy McKay in the Voices of the Conference series to share her wisdom and experience in raising teen boys. Attendees of the 2022 ADE at HOME Virtual Conference will be glad for more opportunity to learn from Cathy.
A Delectable Education Charlotte Mason podcast seeks to inspire, encourage, and explain the Charlotte Mason method. During the midwinter ADE at Home {Virtual} Conference, all three take place in various presentations. On today's episode, hear how many different individuals participate in this conference either with friends, away from home, at home...and share some of their ideas for making the most of it.
Living books are the heart of the Charlotte Mason method of education, and providing a wide variety of books is essential. Of special importance to families in this century is reading living books about and from the perspective of people of various ethnic backgrounds. Today's guest, Nicole Cottrell, describes her gift to the Charlotte Mason community of a database of diverse living books particularly of people of color. We also discuss several other places to find living books of all sorts.
Charlotte Mason spoke to the fears and anxieties of mothers in her day. Her counsel is exceedingly relevant today. The ADE ladies have invited Jessica Becker to the podcast to discuss one of our most prevalent problems in this cultural moment, the undercurrent that affects our homes and homeschool education: fear and anxiety.
The spreading of the practice of Charlotte Mason's method has created a demand for living books, old standbys that this generation deserves to know. This week begins this season's new series: Charlotte Mason in Our Community with a focus this month on book publishing with an interview of Rachel North, a Charlotte Mason enthusiast who lives in England and has restored, updated, and transformed some of the classic books Mason used to again find their place in our curriculum.
The spreading of the practice of Charlotte Mason's method has created a demand for living books, old standbys that this generation deserves to know. This week begins this season's new series: Charlotte Mason in Our Community with a focus this month on book publishing with an interview of Rachel North, a Charlotte Mason enthusiast who lives in England and has restored, updated, and transformed some of the classic books Mason used to again find their place in our curriculum.
A Charlotte Mason education requires a lot of time and effort on the part of the teacher to prepare the best feast for the children. How does the parent also manage all the needs of daily life in the home at the same time? Listen to Emily, Nicole, and Liz discuss home management while homeschooling for some wisdom gained from their own experience.
A Charlotte Mason education requires a lot of time and effort on the part of the teacher to prepare the best feast for the children. How does the parent also manage all the needs of daily life in the home at the same time? Listen to Emily, Nicole, and Liz discuss home management while homeschooling for some wisdom gained from their own experience.
This new episode on handicrafts contains further revelation on Charlotte Mason's purpose and approach to handicrafts. Emily, Nicole, and Liz, as always, draw out the practical application for this crucial, seemingly complicated, and vital part of the feast. Whether you are crafty or inept, there is wise advice for implementation here.
This new episode on handicrafts contains further revelation on Charlotte Mason's purpose and approach to handicrafts. Emily, Nicole, and Liz, as always, draw out the practical application for this crucial, seemingly complicated, and vital part of the feast. Whether you are crafty or inept, there is wise advice for implementation here.
Welcome to Season Eight! Emily, Nicole, and Liz are delighted to bring you up to date on new helps for teaching being offered at A Delectable Education's site, events to look forward to, and an overview of the great things you can expect in the coming school year on the podcast as they continue to share the riches of the Charlotte Mason feast.
Welcome to Season Eight! Emily, Nicole, and Liz are delighted to bring you up to date on new helps for teaching being offered at A Delectable Education's site, events to look forward to, and an overview of the great things you can expect in the coming school year on the podcast as they continue to share the riches of the Charlotte Mason feast.
Charlotte Mason encouraged the habit of gratitude. This end-of-year season wrap-up episode is a collection of testimonials from mothers who have experienced the benefits of her method. Emily, Liz, and Nicole are encouraging every mother, before the books are tossed aside for the year, to take time to reflect on the past year of lessons. If you want to end the year with a song instead of a sigh, listen to be reminded of all that's good.
As with every subject, Charlotte Mason's method starts with ideas and continues with natural instruction according to her principles. Math is no exception. Guests Emily Al-Khatib and Heather Schultz unpack the underlying principles of Charlotte Mason's approach to math and reveal a glimpse of the beauty and truth that will be revealed as Miss Mason's method is applied to mathematics. Emily, Liz, and Nicole touch on the most common questions, concerns, fears, and perplexities teachers have about math with these enthusiastic math teachers.
Why did Charlotte Mason include drawing as one of the essential subjects in her curriculum? And why is ADE re-releasing the original discussion on drawing as one of the basics this season? This return to the subject of drawing will refresh your thinking about the necessity of drawing, its broad application to many subjects, and some practical guidance for implementing drawing in the feast.
Charlotte Mason's counsel on education extends beyond academics to sound parenting advice. It's wonderful to come to the feast, but what if the learners at the table have such bad attitudes that it spoils the meal? Liz, Emily, and Nicole discuss the reality of facing the challenges of children with bad attitudes and ways of dealing with them.
This week's Charlotte Mason podcast episode is a re-release of a fundamental subject: writing. There is far more to composition than mechanical knowledge. This episode reveals the progression from oral narration to the polished compositions of the upper forms and includes a discussion of grammar, written narration, and composition.
For Charlotte Mason, poetry was a life giving instructor and inspirer of the children. This podcast episode includes special guest, Jono Kiser, a lover, writer, and teacher of poetry. Together the ADE ladies and Jono attempt to scratch the surface of the vast scope and value of poetry. If you love it, or are unsure, unfamiliar, unenthusiastic, or unconvinced, enter into this conversation and know delight is waiting for you.
Overwhelmed? Overwrought? Or, just over it all? This episode is a re-release of one of our top listened to discussions, because when the broad feast feels unachievable or suffocating, we all need encouragement and perspective.
Charlotte Mason set her method firmly on the power of narrative. This episode is the book discussion of a novel from 2001: Peace Like a River by Leif Enger. Miss Mason kept up with current literature and said "our novels are our teachers." This beautiful, symbolic, realistic, and panoramic novel is an excellent teacher. Emily, Nicole, and Liz have a grand time unwrapping some aspects that reveal some of its wonders.
Charlotte Mason advocated a "method" of lessons, which included comments to the teacher about preparing for lessons. What is included in this practice, why is it necessary or helpful, and how do we implement effective planning? Lessons are far more than simply reading and narrating. Keeping students on track throughout a school year takes some vigilant and diligent work on the teacher's part. Enjoy this re-release of a former episode with relevance for every single school week.
Charlotte Mason's curriculum set appropriately short lessons in many varied subjects. Her programs included timetables to help organize the short morning lessons. This episode is a discussion of how the teacher may prepare, predict, and preplan for the upcoming term to accomplish covering the material. We call it forecasting--a flexible plan for success, a term Charlotte Mason probably would have appreciated.
Merry Christmas to all. This re-release of an early episode on picture study and music appreciation begins with a few tips and updates and is appropriate for a feast for the eyes, ears, and heart during this special season. For the not-to-be missed lessons, including art and music is the life-giving energy for the rest of the feast.
Charlotte Mason made several statements that began, "Education is…" This episode teases out many of her definitions of education. Emily, Nicole, and Liz discuss her perspective on education and how it applies to us today.
Term examinations in Charlotte Mason's schools were mandatory. This re-release of our 2017 podcast episode explores the purpose of examinations, what was covered, and how we evaluate our child's performance, with a slight update from what we've learned over the last four years.
We're popping into the feed today with three short announcements about upcoming events and items you'll want to know about.
Did Charlotte Mason advocate the common notion of "mastery before moving on?" Liz, Emily, and Nicole discuss this popular idea and, based on Miss Mason's principles, the cases when moving on with or without mastery of a subject are beneficial for the student.
A Charlotte Mason education is grounded in principles of teaching, not just products. This is critical in the area of writing, whether handwriting or written composition. Since writing is essential, enjoy this re-release of our original show with some new preliminary comments.
This week's Charlotte Mason podcast is an interview with a mom of five on the subject of physical geography. Morgan Conner wanted to know more about her region, wanted to learn how to do geography walks, and shares with us how this came about. If you don't know much about your locale, its geology, or how to incorporate geography walks, you will be delighted with the practical and informative suggestions Morgan shares.
Nature study is essential in a Charlotte Mason education. In revisiting "the basics," this is the reason we offer you this re-release of our original nature study episode. Even if you have been studying nature with your children for years, you will be re-inspired and grateful for the world that has been given.
We think of school as paper, pencils, and books, but Mason's delectable feast included innumerable other learning opportunities. We try to hit the highlights here of the vastly underrated world of things that can be considered critical to the well-rounded education.
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“The children I am speaking of are much occupied with things as well as with books, because 'Education is the Science of Relations,' is the principle which regulates their curriculum; that is, a child goes to school with many aptitudes which he should put into effect. So, he learns a good deal of science, because children have no difficulty in understanding principles, though technical details baffle them. He practises various handicrafts that he may know the feel of wood, clay, leather, and the joy of handling tools, that is, that he may establish a due relation with materials. But, always, it is the book, the knowledge, the clay, the bird or blossom, he thinks of, not his own place or his own progress.” (Vol. 6, p. 31)
“At the same time, here is the mother's opportunity to train the seeing eye, the hearing ear, and to drop seeds of truth into the open soul of the child, which shall germinate, blossom, and bear fruit, without further help or knowledge of hers.” (Vol. 1, pp. 44-45)
"At any rate he should go forth well furnished because imagination has the property of magical expansion, the more it holds the more it will hold." (Vol. 6, p. 43)
"The work is arranged on the principles which have been set forth in this volume; a wide curriculum, a considerable number of books for each child in the several classes, and, besides, a couple of hours' work daily, not with Books but with Things." (Vol. 3, p. 271)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
School Education (Vol. 3), Chapter 21
Towards a Philosophy of Education (Vol. 6), Book I, Sections II and III
The Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv
(Contains affiliate links)
Example of a P.U.S. Time-table
Charlotte Mason increased the feast both in variety of lessons and length of lessons as the children grew, but how does one teacher with multiple students in multiple grades manage? This episode explores many of the possibilities for combining children of different levels. Creative structuring and a knowledge of what each needs is key, and there are lots of options at every stage for sharing lessons.
Another season of Charlotte Mason episodes is around the corner. Want to know what series we will be doing, what new projects we have to offer, and what to expect? Emily, Nicole, and Liz give some sneak previews.
This Charlotte Mason podcast episode addresses three short topics: the lists of attainments for six and 12-year-olds, what age is right to start school, and memorization. Liz, Emily, and Nicole each tackle one of these and gives you the short and simple advice from Charlotte Mason.
In Charlotte Mason's book addressed to students, she wrote them a chapter on vocation. This episode concludes our series on the first book of Ourselves and is an informal chat about our calling in general, our children's callings in particular, and some of the ways we can encourage them to follow theirs.
Instead of focusing on the principles and feast of curriculum subjects for the teacher, this episode speaks directly to the students who are beginning their Charlotte Mason education. Maybe you have never experienced school at home, but even if you have, this new way of doing school is going to be different than any other school experience you have had. Since this education expects you to do the work of your own education, we thought it only fair for you to know a thing or two about it.
Charlotte Mason's book for students, Ourselves, is valuable to homeschool parents and all teachers, too. This episode in the series highlighting sections of Ourselves addresses a hot topic in our culture today: justice. Specifically, what do the opinions we hold have to do with doing what is right to others?
From the wisdom of Charlotte Mason for homeschool families, we share a session from the ADE at Home Conference in February 2021: a long Q&A session. Here are dozens of questions of everyday school problems with attitudes and behavior, habit training, and lots and lots of discussion on scheduling and planning from the multitudinous questions we received that day.
This episode on the series covering Charlotte Mason's volume Ourselves addresses one aspect of the portion of "The House of Heart," namely, loyalty. What do love and loyalty have to do with one another? How does awareness of loyalty affect our life? Emily, Nicole, and Liz discuss this topic, relevant for our students as well as their teachers.
For those who try to wrap their mind about the enormous feast Charlotte Mason offered in her curriculum, today's episode is a treasure. Emily, Nicole, and Liz read for you a hundred-year-old article that was once presented for the very purpose of giving interested educators an overview of this educational model. Enjoy listening and reading it yourself, then explore valuable links to guide you into more valuable nuggets.
What do beauty and homeschooling the Charlotte Mason way have to do with one another? This free-form conversation discusses the inborn need to appreciate beauty in everyone, its development, its false counterparts, and how the feast develops this aesthetic sense in children.
A keynote of a Charlotte Mason education is the nature walk. Would you believe we have never had an episode dedicated solely to this topic? By way of apology for the delay, this episode covers all things nature walk--where, when, how, what preparations, destinations, options for families or groups of families. Spring has sprung, and this episode should inspire you whether you are a beginner or an old hand at nature rambles and hikes.
Charlotte Mason addresses concerns about our body in Ourselves and this week's lively discussion focuses on the body's need for rest. Not just our students, but homeschool teachers also need rest. We hope this episode will energize you to consider how to work true rest into your life.
A Charlotte Mason education included the best novels the world had to offer. This episode is a lively discussion of Sir Walter Scott's Waverley, a book Miss Mason referred to in all of her six volumes and one of the first English historical novels. To read it is to understand more about Miss Mason, and ourselves.
Our first ever ADE at HOME Virtual Conference was a great success...but it's not over! Take a quick listen to hear some exciting news, and a chance to WIN access to all the content from this weekend's event.
Charlotte Mason homeschoolers know that the curriculum feeds the whole person. Miss Mason tackled helping young persons to understand themselves and their place in the world through one of her volumes, Ourselves, to widen their understanding of themselves and the world they live in. This episode gives an overview of the purpose and plan for this book in the feast and is the first of the season 6 podcast series covering topics from Self-Knowledge, the first book of Ourselves.
Charlotte Mason developed her educational method upon underlying philosophical principles, but many of those influences popular in her day are unknown to today's homeschooling teachers. This episode unpacks three prominent figures who were giants in education then, discussed in Miss Mason's Home Education series, and attempts to distill their contributions, and to compare and contrast them to the ideas Miss Mason rejected or accepted.
Of supreme importance to homeschool and other educators is knowing who Charlotte Mason called "The Supreme Educator of all mankind"--the Holy Spirit. This podcast episode discusses the implications of her capstone point in the synopsis, the role of the Holy Spirit in education.
This Christmas Day episode is a discussion of Bible reading, a subject found in Charlotte Mason's programs, but was for the child's personal Bible reading. Emily, Liz, and Nicole discuss why this is an important habit for our children and how we can encourage our children in their own Bible reading.
For every homeschool teacher, Charlotte Mason's wisdom on the child's personality is invaluable. This next installment of the synopsis, points 16-19, covers these two aspects, aspects the teacher has an obligation to understand and instruct their children in.
Homeschool parents recognize that there is more to education than academic subjects. Charlotte Mason was careful to ground the teacher's understanding in the moral responsibility of training children. This episode addresses moral development in the child and how to foster it through authority, habits, and the living ideas children are served in the curriculum.
Charlotte Mason's short synopsis of the main points of her educational method is useful to homeschool and classroom teachers. This episode continues through this "synopsis," moving beyond philosophical foundations to determining the curriculum and how implementing it is best accomplished.
Charlotte Mason's training college was unique, but it was not all study and offers some scope for imagination to today's homeschool families implementing her method. This episode discusses the Scale How evenings that were part of the community life of her college to offer information and inspiration for how such social gatherings could round out a delightful education.
Charlotte Mason distilled her philosophy into some succinctly stated principles, and the homeschool or classroom teacher does well to underpin their efforts by considering the philosophy that drives the teaching. Today's episode addresses principles 9-12, the specifics of what we believe about the mind, how it learns, and what the teacher must not do to impose on the natural development of a child in acquiring knowledge.
Homeschool teachers must consider many aspects of education beyond the books and pencils, especially with the Charlotte Mason method. This "shorts" episode includes three widely dispersed topics: the role of the "State," sensations and feelings, and mottos.
Whether you homeschool, or wherever you teach with Charlotte Mason's method, a working knowledge of her synopsis is essential. This second installment addresses the three instruments of education covered in points 5-8. Questions for your discussion group are included to help facilitate your conversation and application.
Charlotte Mason summed up her underpinning principles of education in a few succinct points. This episode is the first in a series that will take a related group of principles and unfold them one by one. Find a friend or share with your study group to discuss the questions after listening to the content and thinking through the accompanying questions.
Charlotte Mason's method of education creeps into our entire lives as educators--not just school time. This podcast is entering its sixth season and we celebrate this landmark number and beginning of season by reviewing and reflecting on a number of topics. We take a brief look back on our time together so far, changes the COVID circumstance has made on our own lives, share some news, some plans for the future personally and on the podcast, announce coming opportunities and ideas for our listeners, and wind up with tips for surviving the constant juggling of home, work, and schooling at home.
This immersion lesson demonstrates how to combine children of different ages and levels of learning during a single math lesson with Charlotte Mason's method of teaching. Emily Al-Khatib and her three sons give a dynamic picture of how a sunshiny atmosphere, order and discipline, and living ideas make math a productive and enjoyable lesson together.
Charlotte Mason is to be thanked for introducing young children to the beauty of art in school lessons. This episode of Charlotte Mason in our homes is an interview with Matthew Milliner, art history professor at Wheaton, College, whose children are being taught at home with Miss Mason's method and who is learning to apply her pedagogy in his college classroom.
Charlotte Mason's vision for children spread throughout the world. A special celebration called "The Children's Gathering" occurred a few times, a holy holiday for experiencing learning together, including with parents and teachers. This episode explores highlights of the camaraderie experienced there as they worshiped, studied, played, danced, paraded, displayed and explored the treasures of the surrounding countryside in a lovely kaleidoscopic, nostalgic, and inspirational picture.
Charlotte Mason's method of education impacts our lives on many levels. This episode of short topics includes ideas for collections from our physical world, ideas for getting more out of books beyond the usual narration that expands our intellectual world, and some of the many, many benefits we who use her method have in common with others that we would not have shared before to widen our social world.
The feast Charlotte Mason spread for the children included generous portions of history, geography, and modern language, but in the upper forms the news of the day was another important aspect for study. How do we navigate the current events in our turbulent, partisan, and often shocking times? Liz, Emily, and Nicole discuss the purpose of current events in the program, as well as sources of news and applications of world events in the education of our children.
Charlotte Mason did not limit persons and knew the scope of a child's education was limitless in its potential for each individual. This episode of Charlotte Mason in Our Homes interviews Caroline Chermely whose son was born at 25 weeks causing multiple deficiencies and life-long limitations. Two terms of a Charlotte Mason approach has resulted in undeniable growth and possibilities now. Whether you personally must cope with a child having "special needs," or not, this mom shares ideas with immense lessons and ramifications for every child applicable in every home.
Did Charlotte Mason have a rhyme or reason to her broad and varied feast or, was it just a collection of unrelated topics? Far from a mishmash, the more the whole feast is pursued, in all its varied subjects, the more it all fits as a whole. Emily, Liz, and Nicole have an animated conversation exploring just how connected this wide feast really is.
Not only did Charlotte Mason include abundant novel reading in her curriculum feast and reference novels and characters from them continuously throughout her own writing, but she believed they were valuable for everyone--not just students. This week's episode is a book discussion of Middlemarch by George Eliot, a novel she references and an author she admired. Whether you have read this novel or not, join in to hear not just what we thought of it, but how it reveals much about our Charlotte Mason education.
Today's episode is a talk given by Liz at several conferences and events. She discusses the role parents play in the lives of their children--a topic much discussed by Charlotte Mason. We hope you enjoy this talk and are challenged and encouraged by the wisdom Miss Mason has to offer us parents.
Charlotte Mason included the study of great works of art in her regular school curriculum. This episode explores the many options for making picture study and picture talk more robust, richer, and engaging for your children with examples and ideas straight from the P.N.E.U.--ideas beyond just "look and tell."
Charlotte Mason insisted the teacher not take a "front and center" role, warned against the "talky-talky" teacher, etc. This episode addresses when it is appropriate for the teacher to explain, question, and even present the "oral lesson."
This Charlotte Mason episode is a brief look into some important, but less talked of subjects. Nicole briefly discusses the natural history lists, what kind, why, and how they are kept; Emily shares about the scope of this curriculum--is it broad or deep; and Liz discusses the importance of the preschool years and what we must guard for the younger children.
This episode is an interview with Jessica in southeast Asia as part of our Charlotte Mason in Our Homes series. Living and teaching with this method in another culture presents special challenges, but also provides exceptional benefits and blessings. The setting is different, but this mother's joys and hardships are common to us all.
This Charlotte Mason podcast is an immensely realistic and practical guide for the teacher. Liz, Emily, and Nicole share what Charlotte Mason's principles for lesson preparation and planning are, then discuss how to make it happen. What should we as teachers be spending our time on behind the scenes, before the lessons? What is actually required of us to make lessons successful and what is not? These and other daily tasks for smoothing the school days are unpacked in this conversation.
The range of subjects related to a Charlotte Mason education is immense. Nicole, Emily, and Liz each focus on one topic or aspect of her education in this episode: museums, examination rubrics, and what is meant by a "thinking curriculum." Enjoy three summaries of these widely varied topics.
This episode discusses what Charlotte Mason advised for the early years, before formal school lessons, in the areas of reading and writing. Emily, Liz, and Nicole share from her writings, the Parents' Review, and their own life experience about when the appropriate time is to begin these skills, how not to push, but how to encourage a young child to prepare them and make the most of their natural interest.
This installment of "Charlotte Mason in Our Home" is an interview with Ryan Morgan, mother of five, wife of a frequently deployed husband, who has educated with Charlotte Mason's method through thick and thin and has not found her method wanting. Ryan's story is inspirational and praiseworthy. Whether you are just beginning, or a veteran, listen and be encouraged that this education is truly life-giving.
Charlotte Mason understood a fundamental skill persons have in learning: visualization. Emily, Liz, and Nicole focus this week's discussion on how Ms. Mason utilized this ability in children to maximize learning across the curriculum.
Ms. Mason believed everyone could and should learn to sing. She employed the technique of the Sol Fa method to aid in this study. This week's immersion lesson is a demonstration of the process with examples of two lessons in two different forms.
Have you ever wondered how Picture Study may change in the older Forms? Perhaps your Picture Studies have fallen into a rut and you'd like to bring more variety into these lessons. Join Emily and Nicole in today's episode as they demonstrate one possible variation for this distinctly Charlotte Mason lesson.
This week's immersion lesson is recitation. Nicole does real life lessons with her daughters, two of them in fact. Learn about the breathing lessons used in upper forms and how a child is encouraged to read poetry beautifully by listening as you listen in to their lessons.
This week's immersion lesson demonstrates a Plutarch lesson. Nicole and her two daughters, forms III and IV, share their classroom experience with us, which reveals why Miss Mason considered this to be such an instructive lesson for young people and why they enjoy it so much
This week's immersion lesson demonstrates the use of "map questions," in the geography lesson. We know that maps are important, but in what way were maps utilized in the lesson? What sorts of questions were presented to the student in the regular map questions lesson and what about that puzzling "10-minute map exercise" lesson.
Charlotte Mason acknowledged that teaching reading can feel like
moving at a snail's pace, but that children love making progress. In this demonstration of a reading lesson, Maelle understands how to read, but is still building her fund of recognized words. Emily works with her in a short reading lesson in one example of how we can help our young reader get another step further down the road to independence.
This episode of A Delectable Education Charlotte Mason Podcast is an interview with Min Hwang to explore her implementation of Charlotte Mason's ideas in the children's ministry of her church. Miss Mason reminds us of Christ's command to "let the little children come to me and hinder them not," and believed in the child's inherent dignity and respect due to them as persons. Min has a special vision of how her method and subjects can make "Sunday school" a fertile growing time for these children to be introduced to and grow in Christ and His word.
This is a monthly question and answer episode discussing how to interest our husbands in Charlotte Mason's method, how to implement narration as an adult, and how and what can be done for children after school hours who attend a non-Charlotte Mason school.
This week's Charlotte Mason podcast is an interview with a college graduate. Liz talks with Emma about her upbringing with Charlotte Mason's method, how that prepared her for her future academic and job pursuits, and how Miss Mason's lifestyle is continuing to nourish Emma's life.
Charlotte Mason included folk dance in the wide and varied feast. Today's interview with Sandra Sosa explores some of the enormous range of possibilities that open up to us when we consider making dancing a part of our education. Her contagious enthusiasm will inspire even the most bashful among us to get moving and add a joyous element to our lives.
"No education, but self-education," said Charlotte Mason. What does this mean in our schoolroom, in our daily lives? Listen to the discussion of what we are really aiming for in the education of our children.
The April Q&A episode discusses the usual variety of questions: Did
Charlotte Mason use textbooks? Is her parenting advice valid? How
can we get more rest? Plus, strategies for lesson planning.
"Education, said Charlotte Mason, is an "atmosphere, a discipline, and a life." Habit formation, the discipline, is fundamental to our function as persons. Miss Mason offers descriptions of habit formation as well as counsel on habit training. Emily, Liz, and Nicole discuss the essentials for building those habits that make for "the good life."
It is not an exaggeration to say that understanding the ideas in this Charlotte Mason podcast is the most important piece of knowledge you can gain as a teacher and parent. Liz, Emily, and Nicole focus on Miss Mason's use of method rather than system in education. It is a way of seeing the child, his education, and discipleship that brings life rather than fixed results.
Charlotte Mason was convinced that children--all children--are born persons and advocated for "a liberal education for all." This interview is with Nicolle Hutchinson who founded and administrates Gillingham Charter School in Pottsville, PA. Once Mrs. Hutchinson, a public school teacher, discovered Charlotte Mason, she knew there was a way to make public education life-giving. In this interview, she shares about her journey to Charlotte Mason's method, her growing dream to bring her principles and practices to publicly educated children, and the formation and continuation of her charter school.
This month's Charlotte Mason Q&A episode addresses common challenges most families face: how much should the child's preferences contribute to book selection, how can we most effectively combine various age and ability levels, and that precarious balance of the day-to-day routine--specifically, how do the ADE ladies personally budget and manage their daily schedules.
Charlotte Mason's method works in all kinds of homes and with every kind of child. This podcast interview with Jenny Schreiner demonstrates this perfectly. If you have ever felt overwhelmed, just imagine seven children under 11, special needs children, adopted children, being new to and trying to implement Charlotte Mason. Listen be refreshed and encouraged by Jenny's vulnerable and valuable lessons in her role as mother and teacher.
Charlotte Mason grounded her educational method on definite principles and practices--and the subject of mathematics is no exception. Today's guest, Emily Al-Khatib is a math teacher herself and shares her perspective on the beauty and truth of using Miss Mason's methods in this part of the feast.
Charlotte Mason sent her programmes out to thousands, but what would she say about families striking out on their own to determine their own course? It is an era of independent-minded homeschoolers; is it possible to come close to her standards for the feast and the right living books to offer? This episode explores the pros and cons of designing your own program, whether it is possible, when it is and is not wise. This episode is full of advice, encouragement, admonitions, and warnings for those who want to try, are hesitant, are too confident or too unsure of themselves to "do-it-yourself."
Charlotte Mason valued time and recognized its limitations. This Q&A episode considers three questions regarding time: use of scheduling cards to develop a timetable for multiple ages, how to handle a child who cannot tolerate book work for much time, and, last but not least, how a mother can possibly manage all her responsibilities in the time she has.
Charlotte Mason believed children are born persons and this podcast
honors a very special person and her family. Liz Cottrill interviews
Amy Fields, mother of a "full care child," whose handicaps seem
insurmountable but whose spirit is indomitable. Enjoy this interview
to hear how Charlotte Mason's method applies to a child the world
would consider uneducable.
The subject of composition perplexes because Charlotte Mason required it and yet discouraged its instruction. How does a teacher abide by her principles and fulfill these requirements? This episode analyzes her principles of writing skill and instruction and traces its
development through the forms.
Charlotte Mason left us her wisdom in her extensive writings, but this
podcast episode specifically addresses the further wealth of
information available through the CMDC--The Charlotte Mason Digital
Collection. The ADE ladies explain how the preserved and archived
documents and pictures from Miss Mason's House of Education can aid, inspire, and clarify the practice of the principles. Listen for a
detailed description of how you, too, can become a treasure hunter and bring past knowledge to enlighten your own understanding.
Charlotte Mason's method is no exception: wherever truth is sown, misconceptions and myths are sure to proliferate alongside it. This month's Q&A episode addresses some common questions arising from some of the myths that surround her.
Charlotte Mason valued the child, and the mother, and this week's podcast episode reveals why. Emily interviews LaShawne Thomas who describes her journey from a full-time professional career, to homeschooling; from Montessori to Charlotte Mason; from one military assignment to the next--homeschooling all the way. Does Charlotte Mason's method suit every situation?
Charlotte Mason considered musical training an essential, including Solfa in her curriculum. This interview with Heidi Buschbach reveals the purpose of this method of music training, how Miss Mason employed it in her curriculum, and how untrained teachers can take advantage of resources to include this subject in their own lessons.
We begin a new year with Charlotte Mason's birthday by celebrating her life. This podcast episode reviews the timeline of Charlotte Mason's life, her accomplishments and the progression of her career, and reveals in part the beautiful influence her generous life offers us
today.
What would Charlotte Mason say about children coming into the feast late or mid-year, when children refuse to cooperate, or how to get them to be more independent in their school lessons? This month's Q&A addresses these questions from listeners.
This podcast episode of Charlotte Mason in Our Homes features an interview with a mother of six children. Listen to her open and honest tale of how she decided upon a Charlotte Mason education, manages lessons with children in three forms, and some of the encouraging results she has discovered already in only her second year of teaching with this living education.
Charlotte Mason thought geography a vital subject in the feast, but where do maps fit into the lessons and what are the most effective ways to use them? Emily unpacks her most recent research and dispels some popular myths about map work.
Living ideas flow from the living books Charlotte Mason assigned for school lessons and life lessons. This episode examines the purpose for the selection of literature for those after-school hours, and how to encourage this life-giving reading habit.
Charlotte Mason has given us a method of education. What does this imply? Was it based on tradition? science? natural or divine law? And, what in all practical use, do these questions have to do with the day-in and day-out teaching of our children. How much do we consider the evidence of modern research and measurement in determining our curriculum or our teaching techniques? Join the rousing discussion between our friend, Art Middlekauff, and Emily, Nicole, and Liz as we wrestle with the true goal of education and the push and pull of modern convictions.
Charlotte Mason had children feasting on books, which means we teachers have questions about them. This month's Q&A podcast episode addresses questions about children who are sensitive to certain books, how to find great living books, and, when they come home, how to organize those books.
The Charlotte Mason in Our Homes series continues with an interview with Michele Jahncke, mother of five and business owner. We are grateful for her years of experience that have given her insight and encouragement for all busy moms everywhere, and especially those who find it necessary to work outside the home while trying to do a conscientious job of homeschooling. Michele shares honestly about her own mistakes and failures, and how Charlotte Mason's instructions have guided her to paths of wisdom.
In the curriculum feast Charlotte Mason spreads for children is the subject of physical geography. This podcast episode will define how physical geography fits into the curriculum and the way it was developed throughout the forms.
This episode of A Delectable Education podcast addresses a question Charlotte Mason never had to face: reading and electronics. Reading in our day is in a state of plummeting deterioration. Electronics are here to stay but have a detrimental effect on the reading habits. How do we cope with these two conditions? How do we help our children live with technology and become deep readers?
This month's Charlotte Mason podcast question for us is asked so often in so many forms that the entire episode is devoted to it. Multiple questions are summed up in "Am I failing? What if I'm not doing things perfectly, not doing it all, leaving out subjects, don't know what I'm doing, can't figure it all out, am avoiding subjects...should I give up?" Emily, Liz and Nicole share Miss Mason's counsel, Biblical encouragement, and their own honest experiences.
This Charlotte Mason podcast episode is an interview with a father.
Every home has special challenges and Jonathon Landell's particular
one is that of being a single father teaching his children himself. He
shares how this method has changed his attitude toward education and children, has helped him with his challenges, and has brought special rewards.
Nature study is a critical part of the Charlotte Mason feast. This podcast episode is an interview with Nicole Handfield and her honest and inspiring testimony of the benefits to a mom when she takes up a nature journal herself.
Charlotte Mason referred to "slipshod" habits in reading. This podcast episode describes what she meant. Nothing is more important than reading in a literature-rich education, but there is a lot of reading habit formation that must occur between being a decoder and being a beautiful reader.
This Charlotte Mason podcast episode is a special edition of our monthly Q&A. In March, 2018, down in the deep south, Art Middlekauff, Richele Baburina, Nicole, Emily, and Liz gathered with parents from across the country for the Charlotte Mason Soiree annual retreat. Questions were collected from the attendees and addressed to these five speakers and recorded live.
This Charlotte Mason podcast episode begins a new monthly series of
interviewing families from all walks of life who are implementing her
method. Nicole interviews Patty Sommer, a missionary in Ghana, Africa, about her CM journey, special challenges, and beautiful benefits. Every family is unique, but Miss Mason's principles and practices fit each one.
This Charlotte Mason podcast episode addresses the teaching of foreign language. Becca Buslovich tackles commonly asked questions, shares resources, and inspires us to make our foreign language lessons effective and delightful.
This weeks Charlotte Mason podcast episode is all about our children’s involvement with books. We have interviewed the children to hear their first hand reasons for why they like the books they like. Enjoy listening and getting ready for a new school year.
A Delectable Education Charlotte Mason podcast presents another
immersion lesson in this episode. Richele Baburina, author of
"Mathematics: An Instrument for Living Teaching" and math curriculum being produced by Simply Charlotte Mason, is the teacher and Nicole Williams her student in an early algebra lesson. Enjoy the process of a full lesson as well as discussion of some of the ways to make algebra a success with your student.
This Charlotte Mason podcast episode is a live Shakespeare lesson.
Open your own copy of Coriolanus if you wish and listen and follow
along with Emily, Liz, and Nicole as they conduct a lesson and have a
brief discussion of some of the teacher's concerns in Shakespeare
lessons.
This Charlotte Mason podcast demonstrates a form II French lesson. Listen to how grammar and narration are incorporated. Find accompanying pictures on the website to help you follow along.
This week's Charlotte Mason podcast is a recorded nature walk with
Nicole Williams and seven-year-old Henry, Liz's grandson. Tag along
and listen as they explore Henry's backyard on a cold March afternoon.
This Charlotte Mason podcast episode is another immersion lesson
experience. Nicole Williams teaches seven-year-old Henry two lessons
in this episode: first a nature lore lesson, then guids him an object
lesson.
This Charlotte Mason podcast episode concerns an important pursuit in
education outside of "school" lessons: scouting. Emily, Nicole, and Liz discuss how scouting became part of the child's experience in the P.N.E.U. and what possibilities it holds for children in our century.
This Charlotte Mason podcast episode is an immersion lesson for second and third grade literature. Specifically, this is the one literature
book Mason never diverted from: Pilgrim's Progress.
Charlotte Mason began foreign language study the first year of school
and this podcast is a demonstration of two kinds of lessons in the
First Form (first through third grade). Becca Buslovich steps in as
the teacher in this immersion lesson, one who is not a native speaker
or expert in French herself, to encourage parents who have little or
no proficiency to equip themselves to teach their children in foreign
language instruction.
This Charlotte Mason podcast is the first in our summer series of
immersion lessons. Listen in while Emily teaches a Bible lesson and
Liz and Nicole narrate in a simulated lesson, and afterward as they
discuss some particulars relevant to Bible lessons for elementary
children.
This podcast episode addresses listener questions on applying the
philosophy and method of Charlotte Mason. When do we teach typing? How to form good habits when disorder reigns? What to do with an only child? are today's discussion questions.
This Charlotte Mason education podcast episode is a group interview
with a most significant and influential person in a child's life: the
fathers. Emily's husband, Jono Kiser, discusses with four dads
concerning their understanding, involvement, and role in the education
of their children.
Math is a worrisome subject for many Charlotte Mason educators.
Wishing to stay true to Mason's guiding principles and up to date with
current knowledge, many hesitate when choosing a curriculum. This is a candid conversation with Richele Baburina, who knows Mason's approach to mathematics, the fears modern educators face, and is knowledgeable about the latest scientific research regarding math education.
Charlotte Mason knew a child's education was secured once he entered into "living books," the heart of her educational method, and the wellspring of ideas to feed the minds of persons. This week's podcast episode is a candid conversation about what led Emily and Liz to begin Living Books Library. Enjoy the history and be inspired to build your own collection as they rhapsodize on their favorite subject, the books, and the children who love them.
Charlotte Mason offered guidance on practical issues of all kinds and A Delectable Education's Q&A podcast episodes are our attempt to apply her wisdom to your own questions of understanding and practice. This week: dealing with the public library, when mother has special learning difficulties, and when a child should officially begin formal lessons are the particular questions addressed.
Today's Charlotte Mason podcast episode is an interview with Min Hwang, a homeschooling mom who has taken her enthusiasm for and knowledge of the Charlotte Mason method outside her own homeschooling circle to parents in traditional educational settings. You will be inspired to hear how she shares the beauty of Ms. Mason's simple truths with parents in all walks of life that have children in public and private schools. Min's fervent love for God and trust in Mason's sound Biblical principles of parenting and educating is bringing hope to parents in all settings. She shares practical tips for you to consider how to approach all parents with our common desire to raise children to know God, be the persons He has created them to be, and be confident in their role as parents.
A special interview from A Delectable Education: how does a Charlotte
Mason education work when your child has dyslexia? Mitchell Williams,
son of ADE's Nicole Williams, shares his experience as a dyslexic child about to graduate from his CM homeschool years and head out into the world.
Charlotte Mason's method of education was taught over a hundred years ago and A Delectable Education's podcast this week reiterates its relevance for the twenty-first century educator and student. After an introduction by Emily, Liz, and Nicole stating their reasons for
holding to Mason's philosophy, Art Middlekoff reads his own criteria
for determining which new ideas and applications are authentic to her
method and how and why to dismiss those that are not.
This Q&A podcast episode addresses why Charlotte Mason included Arabella Buckley's books, how a child can come to the history rotation and always be in exactly the right place, and why all advertised Charlotte Mason curriculum does not necessarily fit in her feast.
Charlotte Mason was concerned not only with the child's mind, but all of his person. This week's podcast episode is an interview with a new Charlotte Mason-educating mom who has deliberately considered both the beauty and function of their school area and shares abundant ideas to inspire you to enhance your children's connections with their lessons by making deliberate efforts and choices regarding the organization and appeal of the schoolroom itself.
Charlotte Mason's foundational principles encompass the relationship of parent and child. This is the third part of a series of podcast episodes discussing the role of "authority and docility" and particularly addresses the child's side of the relationship.
Charlotte Mason had much to say about parenting and this week's episode addresses the role of parents, their responsibilities, attitudes, and weaknesses. Mason was clear about the dignified office of authority in order to lead, guide, protect, and inspire our children to fulfill their role as obedient, peaceful, and joyful persons.
Charlotte Mason addressed parenting issues in concurrence with her
philosophy of education. This podcast episode is the first of a
three-part series on her third principle of "authority and docility."
The first portion today concerns the right view of authority in our
lives.
Application of Charlotte Mason's principles in many areas of life is the focus of the ADE monthly Q&A episodes. This month: how do we manage children's extracurricular involvements, when should we expect children to gain independence with schoolwork, and are daily scheduled timetables relevant for the homeschool as much as they are used in formal classroom settings.
Charlotte Mason's educational method encompasses all of life. This
podcast episode explores the possibilities of sharing and showing love
as a family through acts of mercy and service to our neighbors near
and far through an interview with friend and Mason educating mom of
six, Vanessa Kijewski, who shares her experiences in training her
children to give.
This podcast episode on Charlotte Mason's method is the second part for discussion of paperwork and notebooks. In particular, Emily addresses all the things that help our children keep track of history chronology, and Liz and Nicole share ways they have managed the organization of papers and notebooks throughout the years.
This Charlotte Mason education podcast focuses on the papers, the recordings, and drawings--all the reproductions of knowledge in the making. In particular, Liz, Nicole, and Emily address the explicitly described or preserved examples of various notebooks Mason's students used from which we can glean ideas to benefit our own students today.
This week's Charlotte Mason podcast episode is another Q&A session
with Liz, Nicole, and Emily, notably: is it okay to start a Mason
education midyear? are the special studies books too simple and
deameaning to our child's intelligence? and what about a passage in
Mason's writings that contradicts ideas she shares in other places?
This Charlotte Mason education podcast episode explores our responsibilities in teaching. If we have agreed to take on homeschooling as our work, what are the attitudes and practices that will make us good at our job?
Charlotte Mason encouraged a practice called "Masterly Inactivity." Emily, Liz, and Nicole discuss what this is, why it is important, and how in the world a mother actually manages to balance law and freedom in her home.
Charlotte Mason wrote vastly on the subject of opinions, and this podcast will address some of her salient points. Do opinions matter? Does each person need to form their own? What do we do to help our children make sensible opinions? These questions and more will be discussed.
This Q&A podcast episodes focuses on Charlotte Mason's counsel for exams with many students, combining many students in one book, and what to accomplish during school breaks.
The Savior of the World, Charlotte Mason's seven-volume poetic rendering of the Gospels, was part of the Bible lesson in her curriculum for forms III-VI. Liz, Emily, and Nicole become the students as their guest teacher, Art Middlekauff, leads an immersion class to demonstrate how the Savior of the World was incorporated in a lesson.
This week's episode of A Delectable Education podcast reviews what Charlotte Mason had to say about Sunday school. Since many listeners write to ask about the application of Mason's method in their church programs, we tackled the why, what and how of implementing a living education for children outside our home.
Charlotte Mason included a category named "Sunday Reading" on her programmes and this week's podcast discusses the purpose for this set-apart reading. In addition, there are plenty of suggestions for what to read, so listen for great titles and ideas for including them,
as well as check out the lists in the show notes.
This week's podcast explores why Charlotte Mason's "feast" would be indigestible without one key ingredient: the child's imagination. Jason Fiedler, pastor and homeschool dad, is interviewed on the topic of cultivating imagination and why it is the power of mind that makes the difference in our children's education. For the Children's Sake, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe, C.S. Lewis
(*Affiliate Links)
The Imagination in Childhood, Charlotte Mason (Parents' Review no. 27)
Imagination as a Powerful Factor in a Well-Balanced Mind, E.A. Parish (Parents' Review, no. 25)
Charlotte Mason Institute Eastern Conference
The Living Education Retreat
The Idyll Challenge
Jason Fiedler's CMI Blog
This A Delectable Education podcast Q&A episode addresses how Charlotte Mason viewed the history of other countries, whether her feast in high school was "only for girls," and some specifics about written narration.
"And now the boy will probably leave the home schoolroom for the Preparatory School, either day or boarding, and, as I am dealing with the early training of children, I will not follow the time-tables of the home schoolroom through Classes III. (eleven to fourteen or fifteen) and IV. (fourteen to sixteen or seventeen). Must the entrance to the Preparatory School mean the abandonment of many of these subjects, and the teaching on quite other lines? I do not believe that this is in any way necessary. I have not been dealing with any special system nor advocating any special fad. I have tried to lay down certain more or less accepted educational principles, and have tried to show how these should be carried out from infancy up to the home schoolroom, and thence up to the Preparatory School. These principles are briefly the furnishing of the mind with living ideas on which to grow and develop, instead of trusting to the memory to assimilate only a daily pabulum of facts; the offering of opportunity to the mind to exercise itself in various directions, the formation of good habits which will go towards the building up of character, and the belief in the intrinsic interest to furnish the necessary stimulus for learning." ("Liberal Education" PR Article)
"Many Preparatory Schoolmasters are shortening the hours of work, and are including in their curriculum nature lore, handicrafts, art teaching, and better methods of language teaching. Some only are making use of the books recommended in the programmes of the Parents' Union School and enrolling themselves on the P.N.E.U School Register. [For particulars of the Parents' Union School apply to Miss Mason, House of Education, Ambleside.] That the reform is not more rapid, is, I believe, due to the fact that such methods of teaching are not calculated to inspire confidence in the parents, who may not have had the opportunity of studying educational problems. More showy and more direct results are often demanded, and hence the true educationalist is hampered." ("Liberal Education" PR Article)
"We cannot, moreover, hope for satisfactory results in the four years, which the boys usually spend at their Preparatory School, unless the ground has been well prepared, and not in a slovenly, amateurish manner. Just as the best teachers are required in the bottom of the school, so parents must prepare themselves for the training of character, the formation of habits, and the inspiration of ideas, and must be willing to seek out and to pay adequately nurses and governesses who are trained to cope with the real needs of the children. We have almost forgotten the days when through ignorance of the laws of health the children's bodies were under-nourished and otherwise neglected. We may hope that the days are also rapidly passing away when "lessons at home with a governess" means mind and soul starvation. With reform in the foundation, we may hope for some reform and progress all the way up the educational ladder." ("Home Training" PNEU Pamphlet)
"We are astonished to read of the great irrigation works accomplished by the people of Mexico before Cortes introduced them to our eastern world. We are surprised to find that the literature and art of ancient China are things to be taken seriously. It is worth while to consider why this sort of naive surprise awakes in us when we hear of a nation that has not come under the influence of western civilization competing with us on our own lines. The reason is, perhaps, that we regard a person as a product." ("Children are Born Persons," PNEU Pamphlet)
"Let him know what other nations were doing while we at home were doing thus and thus. If he come to think...that the people of some other land were, at one time, at any rate, better than we, why, so much the better for him." (Vol. 1, p. 281)
"Our knowledge of history should give us something more than impressions and opinions." (Vol. 6, p. 171)
"We introduce children as early as possible to the contemporary history of other countries as the study of English history alone is apt to lead to a certain insular and arrogant habit of mind." (Vol. 6, p. 175)
An Essay Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6), Book II, Chapter 2
A Liberal Education in Secondary Schools, Parents' Review Article
The Home Training of Children, Parents' Review Article
Episode 80: Charlotte Mason through High School
Episode 48: Writing: Copywork, Dictation, and Written Narration
Subjects by Form
This week's podcast episode discusses Mason's purpose for music in her curriculum feast. before the "non-musical" teachers ignore this subject for school, let us carefully explore why so much music training, appreciation, and practice is included--for the children's sake.
“Does it, or does it not, make any appreciable difference to a baby to be in a home where music is part of the every-day life, where it is put to sleep with simple songs, where cheerful little musical games are introduced in their natural place, where it is led to find rhythmical expression in dances and songs, and where it hears much beautiful sound which it docs not attempt to account for or understand ? I think that all teachers of experience will agree that it does make an enormous difference, and that it is possible to pick out from a roomful of children, by their very bearing, those who come from homes where music exists.” (Holland, "Music as an Educational Subject" Parents' Review)
"Some of the most important habits for a child to acquire, are (1) observation ; (2) concentration ; (3) imagination ; and (4) reasoning. ... [and Music] trains simultaneously, as no other single subject does, ear, eye, and hand, it awakens and naturally develops the imagination, and insists upon concentration and reasoning." (Holland)
" Music is the language of the soul, but it defies interpretation. It means something, but that something belongs not to this world of sense and logic, but to another world, quite real, though beyond all definition. ... Is there not in music, and in music alone of all the arts, something that is not entirely of this earth ? Whence comes melody ? Surely not from anything that we hear with our outward ears and are able to imitate, to improve, or to sublimise. . . . Here if anywhere, we see the golden stairs on which angels descend from heaven and whisper sweet sounds into the ears of those who have ears to hear. . . ." (Holland)
"Training of the Ear and Voice is an exceedingly important part of physical culture, which began with basic enunciation, and French lessons. She also pointed out that that every child may be, and should be, trained to sing through carefully graduated ear and voice exercises, to produce and distinguish musical tones and intervals." (Vol. 1, p. 133)
"If possible, let the children learn from the first under artists, lovers of their work: it is a serious mistake to let the child lay the foundation of whatever he may do in the future under ill-qualified mechanical teachers, who kindle in him none of the enthusiasm which is the life of art." (Vol. 1, p. 31)
"Intelligent love of music is one of the great joys and privileges of life, but it is denied to quite half the community, and I would argue that the cultivation thereof is in its way quite as important as technical instrumental instruction, as it is one of the greatest factors in elevating mankind." (A Musical Baby, Mrs. Glover, Parents' Review)
The Child Pianist--Teacher's Guide (Curwen Method)
Listener's Guide to Musics, Scholes
Second Book of Great Musicians, Scholes
*The Planets, Sobel
The Growth of Music, Colles
Elements of Music, Davenport
Studies of Great Composers, Parry
Enjoyment of Music, Pollitt
Musical Groundwork, Shera
(*Affiliate Links)
Episode 74: Singing
Episode 76: Drill and Physical Training
Episode 34: Composer Study
Heidi Buschbach's Articles on CMP (Here and Here)
Sabbath Mood Homeschool's Middle School Astronomy Guide
This podcast episode describes why, to Charlotte Mason, art was a living, breathing part of life and, hence, the curriculum. How do we open the doors to beauty and truth found in art as teachers? When and how do we progress in an orderly fashion? This episode also includes guidance for the mother with little art background herself.
"But any sketch of the history teaching in Forms V and VI in a given period depends upon a notice of the 'literature' set...and where it is possible, the architecture, painting, etc., which the period produced." (Vol. 6, pp. 177-78)
"For taste is the very flower, the most delicate expression of individuality, in a person who has grown up amidst objects lovely and befitting, and has been exercised in the habit of discrimination. Here we get a hint as to what may and what may not be done by way of cultivating the aesthetic sense in young people. So far as possible, let their surroundings be brought together on a principle of natural selection, not at haphazard, and not in obedience to fashion. Bear in mind, and let them often hear discussed and see applied, the three or four general principles which fit all occasions of building, decorating, furnishing, dressing: the thing must be fit for its purpose, must harmonise with both the persons and the things about it; and, these points considered, must be as lovely as may be in form, texture, and colour; one point more––it is better to have too little than too much." (Vol. 5, p. 232)
"It may not be possible to surround him with objects of art, nor is it necessary; but, certainly, he need not live amongst ugly and discordant objects; for a blank is always better than the wrong thing." (Vol. 5, p. 232)
[By eleven children should give] "orderly descriptions of pictures and training in this must begin gradually some years before. By an 'orderly' description is meant one in which the principal objects and their positions are mentioned first, so that a listener who has never seen the picture gains a general idea of their arrangement. Then the details are given, not haphazard but on some given plan...Although there is no teaching of composition, work along these lines prepares the way for its appreciation later on." (Picture Study, E.C. Plumptre, PNEU Pamplet)
"There is no talk about schools of painting, little about style; consideration of these matters comes in later life, but the first and most important thing is to know the pictures themselves. As in a worthy book we leave the author to tell his own tale, so do we trust a picture to tell its tale through the medium the artist gave it. In the region of art as else-where we shut out the middleman." (Vol. 6, p. 213)
Modern Painters, John Ruskin
Art For Children series, Ernest Raboff
The Renaissance: A Short History, Paul Johnson
Story of Painting, H.W. Janson
Child's History of Art, V.M. Hillyer (Rare, but in five volumes: Architecture 1, Architecture 2, Sculpture, Fine Art 1, Fine Art 2)
Emily's Picture Study Portfolios
Picture Study, PNEU Pamphlet
Picture Talks, K. R. Hammond, Parents' Review, Vol. 12, No. 7, pp. 501-509
Drawing was an essential component of the Charlotte Mason feast of subjects, and this podcast episode describes her purpose for including this skill. If drawing intimidates or paralyzes you because of your own feelings of incompetence to instruct, Emily offers practical tips for opening the world of expression through drawing for your children of all ages.
"It is only what we have truly seen that we can truly reproduce, hence, observation is enormously trained by art teaching. Personally, I believe every living soul can learn to draw from actual objects, if the eye has not first been vitiated by seeing copies of them." (Miss Pennethorne, PR 10)
"This is what we wish to do for children in teaching them to draw--to cause the eye to rest, not unconsciously, but consciously n some object of beauty which will leave in their minds an image of delight for all their lives to come." (Vol. 1, p. 313)
"Art, when rightly directed, is educational, for it trains not only one faculty, but all the faculties together; it trains the hand and the eye, and it trains the head and the heart; it teaches us to see and to see truly; it teaches us to think--that science can do; but it teaches us also to admire and to love; it disciplines the emotions." (Mr. Collingwood, The Fesole Club Papers)
"...the great benefit of "brushwork" being that it can be made quite a moral training in exactness and decision." (Mrs. Perrin, "Brush Drawing", PR 4)
"Children should learn to draw as they learn to write. The great point is that they should be encouraged, not flattered. With no help and encouragement the child gradually loses his desire to draw." (Mrs. Steinthal, "Art Training in the Nursery", PR 1)
"There are two great points that must be remembered if we wish to make our system of art teaching...successful. The first is, always keep the children interested. Next, let us understand that drawing is not only learnt with a pencil and a piece of paper....The chief value of drawing is that it trains the eye to see things as they are." (Mrs. Steinthal, PR 1)
"...we must be careful not to offer any aids in the way of guiding lines, points, and other such crutches; and also that he should work in the easiest medium; that is, with paint-brush or with charcoal, and not with a black-lead pencil. Boxes of cheap colours are to be avoided. Children are worthy of the best." (Vol. 1, p. 313)
"The first buttercup in a child's nature note book is shockingly crude, the sort of thing to scandalise a teacher of brush-drawing, but by and by another buttercup will appear with the delicate poise, uplift and radiance of the growing flower." (Vol. 6, p. 217)
"Drawing is nothing to do with talent, but can be done with observation, intelligence and application--or by seeing, remembering and expressing and is a fundamentally educative subject." (Juliet Williams, "The Teaching of Drawing and Its Place in Education", PR 34)
School Education (Volume 3), p. 205
Ourselves (Volume ), Book I, Part II, Chapters II and V
An Essay Towards a Philosophy of Education, Book I, Chapter X (f)
Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, Betty Edwards
(Affiliate Links)
Drawing Lessons, Florence Monkhouse (PR Article)
Brush Drawing, Miss K. Loveday (PR Article)
The Teaching of Drawing and Its Place in Education, Juliet Williams (PR Article)
Brush Drawing, Mrs H. Perrin (PR Article)
Fesole Club Papers, Mr. W. G. Collingwood
What To Draw and How to Draw It
In A Large Room Retreat
This week's Charlotte Mason podcast Q&A episode covers questions about transitioning through morning lessons, meeting state requirements for kindergarten, and handling the needs of a gifted child.
This podcast episode explores how a Charlotte Mason education can be enhanced by joining with others to explore nature. Nicole Williams interviews Marcia Mattern who shares practical ideas for how to make the most of our field work together from her years of experience in leading groups.
This podcast episode describes Charlotte Mason's purpose for "object lessons" in spreading the feast. What is an object lesson, how is it to be conducted, how does a teacher prepare for it and other questions related to drawing our children's interest deeper into nature study are the focus of this week's discussion.
Nature study is one big, beautiful part of a Charlotte Mason education. This podcast explores what is meant by “special studies,” and where it fits into the entire scheme of knowledge of the world outside. What is meant by field work, nature lore reading, and the nature journal, and how does a parent who is ignorant of nature inspire an interest in the student?
The application of Charlotte Mason's principles and practices raises many questions for the teacher. This Q&A installment addresses how to answer friends who ask what Mason is all about, ADE's consultation services, and scheduling concerns, notably the practice of a "looping" approach.
A Charlotte Mason mother needs to understand the method she is implementing with her children, but how is she to learn? One encouraging way to find support is to study Ms. Mason's writings together. This episode is an interview with Bridgett Cooley, founder of the Charlotte Mason Soiree Facebook group. The Soiree is facilitating the birth and strengthening of Charlotte Mason reading groups with a training program for group leaders and Liz and Bridgett discuss everything they can think of to help you get involved.
This podcast faces the reality: a Charlotte Mason education is rewarding--but enormous! It is normal to become weary, worried, and woeful at times about the immense and multitudinous tasks of educating our children, not to mention feeding, clothing, and caring for them daily. The ADE mothers have been in the trenches and share strategies and wisdom for running the race without giving up.
This podcast episode explores Charlotte Mason's Home Education series, the six volumes written to thoroughly explain her educational principles and practices. Join Emily Kiser in an interview with Morgan Conner as they describe the value and special characteristics of each volume individually, and where to begin in our own journey through the information-packed pages so essential to our knowledge and success as home educators.
When we embark on the homeschool journey, many of us feel inadequate to teach because of our own lack of education. Once we start, however, our enthusiasm for learning ourselves is usually kindled. But how to find the time, what to study, and which areas are most fruitful for us are the questions this episode will address as the ADE ladies review Mason's own Mothers Education Course and what she felt were the essential areas of study for a mother and teacher.
What kind of feast did Charlotte Mason spread for the oldest students? The high school years often cause anxiety in the homeschool teacher, but with the slow and steady progress in the lower forms, a Mason educated child is going to tackle them with relish. What was included in the upper forms, what changed, and what stayed the same?
Charlotte Mason carefully laid the foundation for the upper years in the lower forms. What are the differences in subjects and practices once students enter the middle form and are working toward the high school years? This podcast will survey and summarize Form III.
Charlotte Mason had definite ideas for why the children should learn, as well as what was to be learned at every stage of school education. This episode provides an overview of the last two years of the "elementary years," or the top of the second Form.
Charlotte Mason's students moved to a new "form" at age 9 or 10. What makes Form II different from form I in the subject content and skills? This podcast discusses the wider room experienced by students entering the upper elementary school years.
Charlotte Mason's young students had an abundant feast. This episode summarizes and reflects on the aspects of the subjects included for the upper part of the first form of school. What do they move on to after that first introductory year?
Charlotte Mason wanted children to set good intellectual habits, and these begin in the first year of formal lessons. A. A. Milne said, "Now we are Six," Mason said, "Now it's time to read," and this episode will describe the scope of the first year of school and its lessons.
Charlotte Mason advice to your frequently asked questions, this time on narration with non-Mason students, required standardized state testing, and the long-awaited, "What do we do in the summer?"
Charlotte Mason was a proponent of the instruction in Sloyd. What is it, and when and how is it taught? Emily interviews guest Brittney McGann, who has researched the topic and practiced this subject in her home and has many practical tips to share and resources to recommend.
Charlotte Mason developed her educational method for all students, but many feel that by high school they must get on to more serious preparation for college or career and abandon the course they have been on. The moms of A Delectable Education discuss the high school years, what studies are tackled, how to deal with college transcripts and applications and college entrance exams. Does Mason's curriculum prepare a child for the real world? Will they be able to succeed in a non-Charlotte Mason environment? What does high school look like if you follow a Mason approach to education?
Charlotte Mason had much to say about children even before they start formal school lessons. This podcast explores the wide world of the preschooler and what families should do to make the most of the early years, the "golden hours" of life before school officially begins.
The breadth of the Charlotte Mason feast requires a lot of knowledge for teachers. We are still learning and discuss some of those points in this episode, as well as correct comments we have made that were wrong in math, foreign language, narration, and use of lesson time.
One of the forms of physical education Charlotte Mason addressed was dance. This episode is an interview with Lance Halverson, ballroom dance instructor and, with his wife, Mason educator of his own four children.
Charlotte Mason did not neglect the physical education of children. This episode explores the myriad ways our children's bodies can be developed in harmony with what is going on in their minds and hearts.
This Charlotte Mason podcast addresses the inclusion of the subject of Latin in the wide feast. The purpose of language study, Latin in particular, is discussed, as well as how Mason approached this traditional subject in a living way.
Charlotte Mason's curriculum includes singing. This episode focuses on the art of singing, reasons why it should not be neglected in morning lessons, and addresses not only the why, what, and when of this subject, but gives tips on what a teacher is to do who is not personally trained or competent in leading singing.
The increasing popularity of Charlotte Mason's method of education means an increase in misconceptions and misinformation. This episode tackles some of the "myths" that have circulated, particularly regarding what makes a living book or a textbook, what books are used in the Bible lesson, and that reading and narration are the only content of a lesson.
This Charlotte Mason podcast addresses frequently asked questions: was Mason's method designed first and foremost for the classroom? Is it essential to have a poetry teatime or morning time?
Charlotte Mason died nearly a hundred years ago, but her ideas have continued to thrive. This episode addresses a few notions that exist that do not necessarily reflect hers. Based on listener questions, we address this Q&A to some of the myths that circulate.
How closely should we adhere to all of Charlotte Mason's principles and practices? This podcast explores the ramifications of taking part of Mason's method, practicing some of her ideas or mixing in other curricula, and addresses whether it is positive or negative to be labeled 'A Charlotte Mason Purist.'
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"The reader will say with truth--'I knew all this before and have always acted more or less on these principles'; and I can only point to the unusual results we obtain through adhering not 'more or less' but strictly to the principles and practices I have indicated. I suppose the difficulties are of the sort that Lister had to contend with; every surgeon knew that his instruments and appurtenances should be kept clean, but the saving of millions of lives has resulted from the adoption of the great surgeon's antiseptic treatment; that is from the substitution of exact principles scrupulously applied for the rather casual 'more or less' methods of earlier days." (Vol. 6, p. 19)
"We do not invite Heads of schools to take up work lightly, which implies a sound knowledge of certain principles and as faithful a practice. The easy tolerance which holds smilingly that everything is as good as everything else, that one educational doctrine is as good as another, that, in fact, a mixture of all such doctrines gives pretty safe results,––this sort of complacent attitude produces lukewarm effort and disappointing progress. I feel strongly that to attempt to work this method without a firm adherence to the few principles laid down would be not only idle but disastrous. 'Oh, we could do anything with books like those,' said a master; he tried the books and failed conspicuously because he ignored the principles." (Vol. 6, p. 270)
"We have a method of education, it is true, but method is no more than a way to an end, and is free, yielding, adaptive as Nature herself. Method has a few comprehensive laws according to which details shape themselves, as one naturally shapes one's behaviour to the acknowledged law that fire burns. System, on the contrary, has an infinity of rules and instructions as to what you are to do and how you are to do it. Method in education follows Nature humbly; stands aside and gives her fair play." (Vol. 2, p. 168)
Art Middlekauff's helpful article on this very topic
Charlotte Mason included a subject uncommon to most modern teachers: recitation. This podcast episode explains why she did, what it is, and how it differs from memorization. This is an essential in the feast and a great gift to the students and the people around them.
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"Children know how to read, but they cannot read." (Burrell, "Recitation")
"Without them the best pieces of English writing lose half their value; the best paper read before a cultivated audience misses its aim; the best lecture is only half a lecture, and the best sermon is an opiate. With them all is changed; the light from the writer's soul is handed down from one generation to another. For good authors cannot die; the human voice is for-ever conferring immortality upon them. So magical is the power of a good reader that he can convey to an audience shades of meaning in his author which he himself does not suspect." (Burrell)
"Recitation and committing to memory are not necessarily the same thing..." (Vol. 1, p. 224)
"And if such appreciation can be born when a good reader and a good audience meet, is it not worse than madness for us to look on English literature as mere work for the study, mere dictionary stuff? It was meant to be interpreted by the voice of life; there is only half the passion in the printed page. If there were more good reading round English firesides, do you suppose that the masterpieces of English thought would be studied, as they often are, merely with an eye to the examiners' certificate?" (Burrell)
"The child should speak beautiful thoughts so beautifully, with such delicate rendering of each nuance of meaning, that he becomes to the listener the interpreter of the author's thought." (Vol. 1, p. 223)
"Knowledge is information touched with emotion: feeling must be stirred, imagination must picture, reason must consider, nay, conscience must pronounce on the information we offer before it becomes mind-stuff." (In Memorium, p. 4)
"At this stage, his reading lessons must advance so slowly that he may just as well learn his reading exercises, both prose and poetry, as recitation lessons." (Vol. 1, pp. 204-205)
"Perfect enunciation and precision are insisted on, and when he comes to arrange the whole of the little rhyme in his loose words and read it off (most delightful of all the lessons) his reading must be a perfect and finished recitation." (Vol. 1, p. 222)
"The teacher reads with the intention that the children shall know, and therefore, with distinctness, force, and careful enunciation; it is a mere matter of sympathy, though of course it is the author and not himself, whom the teacher is careful to produce." (Vol. 6, p. 244)
"The gains of such a method of learning are, that the edge of the child's enjoyment is not taken off by weariful verse by verse repetitions, and, also, that the habit of making mental images is unconsciously formed." (Vol. 1, p. 225)
"There is hardly any 'subject' so educative and so elevating as that which Mr. Burrell has happily described as 'The Children's Art.'" (Vol. 1, p. 223)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education, Part V, Chapter VII: Recitation
Recitation: The Children's Art, Arthur Burrell, Parents' Review, Vol. 1, pp. 92-103
Lady Clare, Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Charlotte Mason Soiree Facebook Group
Is "co-op" a Charlotte Mason term or concept? This podcast episode addresses the pros and cons of sharing the feast with others.
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"We have still to complain that Grammar and Arithmetic are rather weak. When this has been reported more than twice under the same teacher, the parents absolutely ought to get help, in these subjects, from some teacher of a neighboring elementary school." (Parents' Review, Vol. 6, p. 75)
Nancy Kelly's Co-Op
This Charlotte Mason podcast episode explores what can happen when we join with other Charlotte Mason families to spread the feast together in settings beyond our home. Amy Snell shares her experience in starting mothers' study groups, a charter school program, nature clubs, and Truth-Beauty-Goodness afternoons with her community. Her wealth of wisdom and experience is not only helpful in considering what kind of shared experiences are beneficial, but what happens when relocation takes you away from your group, how to initiate groups, organizing and maintaining them, and perils to avoid.
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"[W]e endeavour that he shall have relations of pleasure and intimacy established with as many as possible of the interests proper to him; not learning a slight or incomplete smattering about this or that subject, but plunging into vital knowledge, with a great field before him which in all his life he will not be able to explore." (Vol. 3, p. 223)
"Not all this at once, of course; but line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, as opportunity offers." (Vol. 1, pp. 328-29)
Charlotte Mason Institute
Truth, Beauty, Goodness Community
A Delectable Education podcast on the Charlotte Mason method answers frequently asked listener questions in this episode: what if my child hates to narrate? where and how do I begin habit training? how do I challenge my gifted child?
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"By "education is a discipline," we mean the discipline of habits, formed definitely and thoughtfully, whether habits of mind or body. Physiologists tell us of the adaptation of brain structures to habitual lines of thought, i.e., to our habits." (Principle #7)
"It is possible to sow a great idea lightly and casually and perhaps this sort of sowing should be rare and casual because if a child detect a definite purpose in his mentor he is apt to stiffen himself against it." (Vol. 6, p. 102)
"Let me add that the appeal of these principles and this method is not to the clever child only but to the average and even to the 'backward' child; indeed we have had several marked successes with backward children. Just as we all partake of that banquet which is 'Shakespeare' according to our needs and desires, so do the children behave at the ample board set before them; there is enough to satisfy the keenest intelligence while the dullest child is sustained through his own willing effort." (Vol. 6, p. 245)
"Lack of proportion should be our bête noire in drawing up a curriculum, remembering that the mathematician who knows little of the history of his own country or that of any other, is sparsely educated at the best." (Vol. 6, p. 232)
Orthodoxy, G.K. Chesterton
(Contains affiliate links)
Nancy Kelly on Habits
This Charlotte Mason podcast episode focuses on listener questions regarding bringing children into the Mason method from other previous school experiences. What are the approaches that help children of various ages transition, what are realistic expectations, and how do we help them adjust to a different way of doing lessons?
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"The success of such a school demands rare qualities in the teacher––high culture, some knowledge of psychology and of the art of education; intense sympathy with the children, much tact, much common sense, much common information, much 'joyousness of nature,' and much governing power..." (Vol. 1, p. 178)
"Our aim in Education is to give a Full Life.––We begin to see what we want. Children make large demands upon us. We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. Thou hast set my feet in a large room; should be the glad cry of every intelligent soul. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking––the strain would be too great––but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest. We cannot give the children these interests; we prefer that they should never say they have learned botany or conchology, geology or astronomy. The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?" (Vol. 3, p. 170-171)
I Buy a School, Marion Berry
(Contains affiliate links)
Term examinations in Charlotte Mason's schools were mandatory. This podcast explores the purpose of examinations, what was covered, and how we evaluate our child's performance.
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"The children write with perfect understanding as far as they go and there is rarely a 'howler' in hundreds of sets of papers. They have an enviable power of getting at the gist of a book or subject. Sometimes they are asked to write verses about a personage or an event; the result is not remarkable by way of poetry, but sums up a good deal of thoughtful reading in a delightful way..." (Vol. 6, p. 242)
"During the examinations, which last a week, the children cover say from twenty to sixty sheets of Cambridge paper, according to age and class; but if ten times as many questions were set on the work studied most likely they would cover ten times as much paper." (Vol. 6, p. 241)
"The terminal examinations are of great importance. They are not merely and chiefly tests of knowledge but records which are likely to be permanent." (Vol. 6, p. 272)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
School Education, Appendix II
Sample PNEU Examinations from Programme 93
Sample PNEU Examinations from Programme 95 (click each link to see full Programme and Examination for each Form)
This Q&A episode of the Charlotte Mason podcast addresses such varied topics as introducing the Book of Centuries, dawdling and disinterested beginners, preschoolers participation, and transitioning students to independent reading.
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"In the first place, never let the child dawdle over copybook or sum, sit dreaming with his book before him. When a child grows stupid over a lesson, it is time to put it away. Let him do another lesson as unlike the last as possible, and then go back with freshened wits to his unfinished task." (Vol. 1, p. 141)
"That the claims of the schoolroom should not be allowed to encroach on the child's right to long hours daily for exercise and investigation." (Vol. 1, p. 177)
"Form IIB has a considerable programme of reading, that is, not the mere mechanical exercise of reading but the reading of certain books. Therefore it is necessary that two years should be spent in Form IA and that in the second of these two years the children should read a good deal of the set work for themselves." (Vol. 6, pp. 181-182)
"This habit should be begun early; so soon as the child can read at all, he should read for himself, and to himself, history, legends, fairy tales, and other suitable matter." (Vol. 1, p. 227)
Made in the ... Books by Christine Price
History of Everyday Things, Quennell
Colonial Craftsmen, Tunis (and all his other books)
A Museum of Early American Tools by Eric Sloane (and many of his other books)
What People Wore, Gorsline
(Contains affiliate links)
Charlotte Mason's morning lessons accomplish much, but this podcast episode focuses on what comes after. What does a mother do with that long afternoon the children should have, how do we manage the activities of life as well as all the occupations Mason insisted should occur outside of school time? This is a thorough discussion of mother's responsibilities, children's freedom and time management, and the purpose of those leisure hours after school books are closed for the day.
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"That the claims of the schoolroom should not be allowed to encroach on the child's right to long hours daily for exercise and investigation." (Vol. 1, p. 177)
"Thus, the morning, after breakfast (the digestion of which lighter meal is not a severe task), is much the best time for lessons and every sort of mental work; if the whole afternoon cannot be spared for out-of-door recreation, that is the time for mechanical tasks such as needlework, drawing, practising; the children's wits are bright enough in the evening, but the drawback to evening work is, that the brain, once excited, is inclined to carry on its labours beyond bed-time, and dreams, wakefulness, and uneasy sleep attend the poor child who has been at work until the last minute. If the elder children must work in the evening, they should have at least one or two pleasant social hours before they go to bed; but, indeed, we owe it to the children to abolish evening 'preparation.'" (Vol. 1, p. 23)
"Five of the thirteen waking hours should be at the disposal of the children; three, at least, of these, from two o'clock to five, for example, should be spent out of doors in all but very bad weather. This is the opportunity for out-of-door work, collecting wild flowers, describing walks and views, etc. (see Home Education). Brisk work and ample leisure and freedom should be the rule of the Home School. The Children's Day will, on the whole, run this: Lessons, 1 1/2 to 4 hours; meals, 2 hours; occupations, 1 to 3 hours; leisure, 5 to 7 hours, according to age. The work not done in its own time should be left undone. Children should not be embarrassed with arrears, and they should have dues sense of the importance of time, and that there is no other time for work not done in its own time. Should the children flag at any time, a day's holiday, a little country excursion, should refresh them." (From Suggestions which accompanied the PNEU Programmes)
"[Referring to the afternoon occupations]...at any time of day, in any division of time, to suit family arrangements; when possible, out of doors." (From Suggestions which accompanied the PNEU Programmes)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education, Part II: Out of Door Life of Children
List of Afternoon Activities
Charlotte Mason's feast spreads to include the subject of architecture. A Delectable Education podcast this week is an interview with Sandra Zuidema who has discovered the joy of exploring the ideas in architecture, its history, people, structures and culture and shares ways she has introduced this to her children.
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"But any sketch of the history teaching in Forms V and VI in a given period depends upon a notice of the 'literature' set; for plays, novels, essays, 'lives,' poems, are all pressed into service and where it is possible, the architecture, painting, etc., which the period produced." (Vol. 6, pp. 177-178)
"We do what is possible to introduce children to Architecture; and we practise clay-modelling and the various artistic handicrafts, but there is nothing unusual in our work in these directions." (Vol. 6, p. 217)
"I shall touch later upon the burning question of a curriculum which shall furnish children, not with dry bones of fact, but with fact clothed upon with the living flesh, breathed into by the vital spirit of quickening ideas." (Vol. 3, p. 124)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
An Essay Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6), Book I, Chapter 10, Section II: Art
Filippo's Dome, Rockwell
Story of Architecture, Waterhouse
Child's History of Art, Hiller
Architecture Shown to the Children, Wynne
Concise History of Western Architecture, Jordan
(Contains affiliate links)
In a Large Room Retreat
Golden Hours of Delight Retreat
Charlotte Mason Institute
The Duomo, Florence
Chartres Cathedral
Flying Buttresses
Rose Windows
Amiens Cathedral
Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
This podcast addresses listener questions about implementing a Charlotte Mason education. How do we teach multiple children at different levels, keep up with all the books being read, teach the subject of recitation, get our children to talk about what they're learning?
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"When a child is reading, he should not be teased with questions as to the meaning of what he has read, the signification of this word or that; what is annoying to older people is equally annoying to children. Besides, it is not of the least consequence that they should be able to give the meaning of every word they read. A knowledge of meanings, that is, an ample and correct vocabulary, is only arrived at in one way––by the habit of reading. A child unconsciously gets the meaning of a new word from the context, if not the first time he meets with it, then the second or the third: but he is on the look-out, and will find out for himself the sense of any expression he does not understand. Direct questions on the subject-matter of what a child has read are always a mistake. Let him narrate what he has read, or some part of it. He enjoys this sort of consecutive reproduction, but abominates every question in the nature of a riddle. If there must be riddles, let it be his to ask and the teacher's to direct him the answer. Questions that lead to a side issue or to a personal view are allowable because these interest children––'What would you have done in his place?'" (Vol. 1, pp. 228-229)
"Long ago, I was in the habit of hearing this axiom quoted by a philosophical old friend: "The mind can know nothing save what it can produce in the form of an answer to a question put to the mind by itself." I have failed to trace the saying to its source, but a conviction of its importance has been growing upon me during the last forty years. It tacitly prohibits questioning from without; (this does not, of course, affect the Socratic use of questioning for purposes of moral conviction); and it is necessary to intellectual certainty, to the act of knowing. For example, to secure a conversation or an incident, we 'go over it in our minds'; that is, the mind puts itself through the process of self-questioning which I have indicated. This is what happens in the narrating of a passage read: each new consecutive incident or statement arrives because the mind asks itself,––"What next?" For this reason it is important that only one reading should be allowed; efforts to memorise weaken the power of attention, the proper activity of the mind; if it is desirable to ask questions in order to emphasize certain points, these should be asked after and not before, or during, the act of narration." (Vol. 6, p. 17)
"A small English boy of nine living in Japan, remarked, "Isn't it fun, Mother, learning all these things? Everything seems to fit into something else." The boy had not found out the whole secret; everything fitted into something within himself." (vol. 6, pp. 156-157)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education, Part V, Chapter VIII
Recitation: The Children's Art, Arthur Burrell
In A Large Room Retreat
TruthQuest History
Charlotte Mason included handicrafts in the curriculum and this podcast will explore the reasons. It is not an optional activity or filler, but what is the purpose? Furthermore, what sorts of things are included in this subject and how can a mother who feels inadequate possibly fulfill this requirement?
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"Points to be borne in mind in children's handicrafts are: a) that they should not be employed in making futilities such as pea and stick work, paper-mats and the like; b) that they should be taught slowly and carefully what they should do; c) that slipshod work should not be allowed; d) and, that, therefore, the children's work should be kept well within their compass." (Vol. 1, pp. 315-316)
"Small children finish anything set for them to do alone very quickly as a rule, and I find it a great help if they can have some easy handicraft to be picked up in spare moments." (Parents' Review, "Notes and Queries", Vol. 44, p. 480)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education (Volume 1), Part V, Chapter XXI
School Education (Volume 3), pp. 355-359
Paper Sloyd for Primary Grades
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Paper Sloyd for Primary Grades
Golden Hours of Delight Retreat
This episode highlights the relevance of a Charlotte Mason education for children who have unique differences as persons in one way or another, needs that affect how they relate to and respond to their education. Is Mason's method possible for children with special needs?
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"Greatness and littleness belong to character, and life would be dull were we all cast in one mould..." (Vol. 2, pg. 71)
"The best public schoolboy is a fine product; and perhaps the worst has had his imagination touched by ideas; yet most of us recognise that the public school often fails, in that it launches the average and dull boy ignorant upon the world because the curriculum has been too narrow to make any appeal to him." (Vol. 3, p. 246)
"Let me add that the appeal of these principles and this method is not to the clever child only but to the average and even to the 'backward' child; indeed we have had several marked successes with backward children. Just as we all partake of that banquet which is 'Shakespeare' according to our needs and desires, so do the children behave at the ample board set before them; there is enough to satisfy the keenest intelligence while the dullest child is sustained through his own willing effort." (Vol. 6, p. 245)
"The teachers underrate the tastes and abilities of their pupils. In things intellectual, children, even backward children, have extraordinary 'possibilities for good'--possibilities so great that if we had the wit to give them their heard they would carry us alog like a stream in spate." (Vol. 6, p. 52)
"This is what we have established in many thousands of cases, even in those of dull and backward children, that any person can understand any book of the right calibre (a question to be determined mainly by the age of the young reader); that the book must be in literary form; that children and young persons require no elucidation of what they read; that their attention does not flag while so engaged; that they master a few pages at a single reading so thoroughly that they can 'tell it back' at the time or months later whether it be the Pilgrim's Progress or one of Bacon's Essays or Shakespeare's plays; that they throw individuality into this telling back so that no two tell quite the same tale; that they learn incidentally to write and speak with vigour and style and usually to spell well. Now this art of telling back is Education and is very enriching." (Vol. 6, pp. 291-92)
"People are too apt to use children as counters in a game, to be moved hither and thither according to the whim of the moment. Our crying need to-day is less for a better method of education than for an adequate conception of children,––children, merely as human beings, whether brilliant or dull, precocious or backward. Exceptional qualities take care of themselves and so does the 'wanting' intelligence, and both of these share with the rest in all that is claimed for them in the previous chapters. Our business is to find out how great a mystery a person is qua person. All action comes out of the ideas we hold and if we ponder duly upon personality we shall come to perceive that we cannot commit a greater offence than to maim or crush, or subvert any part of a person." (Vol. 6, p. 80)
Parents' Review article on Backward Children
This Charlotte Mason podcast episode is the conclusion of a two part interview with Richele Baburina on math in the upper forms. Her research and experience, wisdom and love will not only calm your anxieties, but will reveal a glimpse of the wondrous possibilities and beauty awaiting you and your child as you explore the mountainous heights of an awe-inspiring subject, including valuable tips for traversing it with direction and confidence.
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"In the things of science, in the things of art, in the things of practical everyday life, his God doth instruct him and doth teach him, her God doth instruct her and doth teach her. Let this be the mother's key to the whole of the education of each boy and each girl; not of her children; the Divine Spirit does not work with nouns of multitude, but with each single child. Because He is infinite, the whole world is not too great a school for this indefatigable Teacher, and because He is infinite, He is able to give the whole of his infinite attention for the whole time to each one of his multitudinous pupils. We do not sufficiently rejoice in the wealth that the infinite nature of our God brings to each of us." (Vol. 2, p. 273)
"Supposing we are willing to make this great recognition, to engage ourselves to accept and invite the daily, hourly, incessant co-operation of the divine Spirit, in, to put it definitely and plainly, the schoolroom work of our children, how must we shape our own conduct to make this co-operation active, or even possible? We are told that the Spirit is life; therefore, that which is dead, dry as dust, mere bare bones, can have no affinity with Him, can do no other than smother and deaden his vitalising influences. A first condition of this vitalising teaching is that all the thought we offer to our children shall be living thought; no mere dry summaries of facts will do; given the vitalising idea, children will readily hang the mere facts upon the idea as upon a peg capable of sustaining all that it is needful to retain. We begin by believing in the children as spiritual beings of unmeasured powers––intellectual, moral, spiritual––capable of receiving and constantly enjoying intuitions from the intimate converse of the Divine Spirit." (Vol. 2, p. 277)
"Girls are usually in Class IV. for two or three years, from fourteen or fifteen to seventeen, after which they are ready to specialise and usually do well. The programme for Class IV. is especially interesting; it adds Geology and Astronomy to the sciences studied, more advanced Algebra to the Mathematics, and sets the history of Modern Europe instead of French history." (Vol. 3, p. 294)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6), Book I, chapters 8 & 9
The Story of Charlotte Mason, Chomondeley
Mathematics: An Instrument for Living Teaching
First Step in Euclid
Practical Exercises in Geometry
Lessons in Experimental and Practical Geometry
Paper Sloyd
Episode 30: The Way of the Will and The Way of Reason+
This Charlotte Mason podcast explores the upper reaches of the hike up the math mountain. If teaching algebra and geometry are daunting to you currently, or for the future, please enjoy the first of this two-part interview with Richele Baburina, a fellow CM researcher and practitioner who has explored the wondrous reaches of mathematics as a living subject in the Mason feast.
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Principles 16-19 from the Preface to the Home Education Series:
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There are two guides to moral and intellectual self-management to offer to children, which we may call 'the way of the will' and 'the way of the reason.'
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The way of the will: Children should be taught, (a) to distinguish between 'I want' and 'I will.' (b) That the way to will effectively is to turn our thoughts from that which we desire but do not will. (c) That the best way to turn our thoughts is to think of or do some quite different thing, entertaining or interesting. (d) That after a little rest in this way, the will returns to its work with new vigour. (This adjunct of the will is familiar to us as diversion, whose office it is to ease us for a time from will effort, that we may 'will' again with added power. The use of suggestion as an aid to the will is to be deprecated, as tending to stultify and stereotype character, It would seem that spontaneity is a condition of development, and that human nature needs the discipline of failure as well as of success.)
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The way of reason: We teach children, too, not to 'lean (too confidently) to their own understanding'; because the function of reason is to give logical demonstration (a) of mathematical truth, (b) of an initial idea, accepted by the will. In the former case, reason is, practically, an infallible guide, but in the latter, it is not always a safe one; for, whether that idea be right or wrong, reason will confirm it by irrefragable proofs.
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Therefore, children should be taught, as they become mature enough to understand such teaching, that the chief responsibility which rests on them as persons is the acceptance or rejection of ideas. To help them in this choice we give them principles of conduct, and a wide range of the knowledge fitted to them. These principles should save children from some of the loose thinking and heedless action which cause most of us to live at a lower level than we need.
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6), Book I, chapters 8 & 9
Strayer Upton Practical Mathematics
Mathematics: An Instrument for Living Teaching
First Step in Euclid
Practical Exercises in Geometry
Lessons in Experimental and Practical Geometry
Richele's Overview of Math Instruction based on the PNEU practice with amendments for 21st century requirements
Paper Sloyd
Episode 30: The Way of the Will and The Way of Reason
This week's Charlotte Mason podcast addresses math in the elementary years. How much should be covered? How should it be presented? How do we build confidence, competence, and progress?
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"The Principality of Mathematics is a mountainous land, but the air is very fine and health-giving, though some people find it too rare for their breathing. It differs from most mountainous countries in this, that you cannot lose your way, and that every step taken is on firm ground. People who seek their work or play in this principality find themselves braced by effort and satisfied with truth." (Vol. 4, p. 38)
[A child should know at 12 years old:] "...g) in Arithmetic, they should have some knowledge of vulgar and decimal fractions, percentage, household accounts, etc. h) Should have a knowledge of Elementary Algebra, and should have done practical exercises in Geometry." (Vol. 3, p. 301)
"[Mathematics] should give to children the sense of limitation which is wholesome for all of us, and inspire that sursam corda which we should hear in all natural law." (Vol. 6, p. 231)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education, Part V, XV
Ourselves, Book I, pp. 38; 62-63
Towards a Philosophy of Education, Book I, Chapter 10, Section III
Strayer-Upton's Books--helpful for mental arithmetic/story problems
(Contains affiliate links)
Richele Baburina's Mathematics: A Guide for Living Teaching
Benezet's Article on informal math instruction in the early years
Parents' Review Article on "Number"
How in the world did Charlotte Mason approach the subject of math? This podcast episode explores that question and addresses our qualms and insecurities in teaching math to our children. How do we avoid fears, tears, pushing and pulling, and reach to its infinite beauty as an instrument in acquiring knowledge of the universe?
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"Arithmetic, Mathematics, are exceedingly easy to examine upon and so long as education is regulated by examinations so long shall we have teaching, directed not to awaken a sense of awe in contemplating a self-existing science, but rather to secure exactness and ingenuity in the treatment of problems." (Vol. 6, p. 231)
"...the use of the study in practical life is the least of its uses. The chief value of arithmetic, like that of higher mathematics, lies in the training it affords to the reasoning powers, and in the habits of insight, readiness, accuracy, intellectual truthfulness it engenders." (Vol. 1, p. 254)
"Never are the operations of Reason more delightful and more perfect than in mathematics...By degrees, absolute truth unfolds itself. We are so made that truth, absolute and certain truth, is a perfect joy to us; and that is the joy that mathematics afford." (Vol. 4, p. 63)
"Let his arithmetic lesson be to the child a daily exercise in clear thinking and rapid, careful execution, and his mental growth will be as obvious as the sprouting of seedlings in the spring." (Vol. 1, p. 261)
"Mathematics depend upon the teacher rather than upon the text-book and few subjects are worse taught; chiefly because teachers have seldom time to give the inspiring ideas, what Coleridge calls, the 'Captain' ideas, which should quicken imagination." (Vol. 6, p. 233)
"There is no must be to him he does not see that one process, and one process only, can give the required result. Now, a child who does not know what rule to apply to a simple problem within his grasp, has been ill taught from the first, although he may produce slatefuls of quite right sums in multiplication or long division." (Vol. 1, p. 254)
"...'nearly right' is the verdict, a judgment inadmissible in arithmetic." (Vol. 1, p. 255)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education, Part V, XV
Towards a Philosophy of Education, Book I, Chapter 10, Section III
Number Stories of Long Ago
String, Straightedge and Shadow
(Contains affiliate links)
Our very favorite resource for Mathematics teaching
This Charlotte Mason podcast episode is another Q&A. As we implement the method, challenges arise: what adjustments need to be made when I come to the method late, how should I organize my home differently, and what about the only child's needs, are this week's focus.
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"It is not an environment that these want, a set of artificial relations carefully constructed, but an atmosphere which nobody has been at pains to constitute. It is there, about the child, his natural element, precisely as the atmosphere of the earth is about us. It is thrown off, as it were, from persons and things, stirred by events, sweetened by love, ventilated, kept in motion, by the regulated action of common sense." (Vol. 6, pg. 96)
"No artificial element [should] be introduced...children must face life as it is; we may not keep them in glass cases." (Vol. 6, pg. 97)
The Conquest of the North and South Poles (Landmark Book), Russell Owen
(Contains affiliate links)
Episode 4: Three Tools of Education
The Education of an Only Child, Mrs. Clement Parsons. The Parents' Review, Volume 12, p.609-621
Foreign language was a major component in Charlotte Mason's curriculum. This podcast addresses the reasons for foreign language study and how mothers of one tongue can still faithfully include it in their homeschool.
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"All educated persons should be able to speak French." (Vol. 1, p. 300)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education, Part V, Chapter XX
An Essay Towards a Philosophy of Education, Book I, Chapter 10, Section II: Languages
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
(Contains affiliate links)
http://theulat.com/ORIGIN.HTM
http://www.thespanishexperiment.com/
http://www.thefrenchexperiment.com/
http://www.theitalianexperiment.com/
http://www.thegermanexperiment.com/
http://cherrydalepress.com/
What are Charlotte Mason's thoughts on grammar and composition? Listen to this podcast to hear some of her rationale for these subjects, to dispel myths about the Charlotte Mason method and the subject of writing, as well as these moms' experience with teaching these technical and creative written skills.
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"[G]rammar, being a study of words and not things, is by no means attractive to the child, nor should he be hurried into it." (Vol. 1, p. 295)
"Children will probably be slow to receive this first lesson in abstract knowledge, and we must remember that knowledge in this sort is difficult and uncongenial. Their minds deal with the concrete and they have the singular faculty of being able to make concrete images out of the merest gossamer of a fairy tale." (Vol. 6, p. 210)
"But a child cannot dream parts of speech, and any grown-up twaddle attempting to personify such abstractions offends a small person who with all his love of play and nonsense has a serious mind." (Vol. 6, p. 210)
"Our business is to provide children with material in thier lessons, and leave the handling of such material to themselves...They should narrate in the first place, and they will compose, later, readily enough; but they should not be taught 'composition.'" (Vol. 1, p. 247)
"It is not enough that a child should learn how to write, he must know what to write." (Vol. 6, p. 234)
"In fact, lessons on 'composition' should follow the model of that famous essay on "Snakes in Ireland"––"There are none."" (Vol. 1, p. 247)
"If we would believe it, composition is as natural as jumping and running to children who have been allowed due use of books." (Vol. 1, p. 247)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education (Volume 1), Part V, XIII
An Essay Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6), Book I, Chapter 10, Section II: Knowledge of Man: Composition & Knowledge of Man: Grammar
The Bedford Handbook
The Elements of Style
(Contains affiliate links)
This episode marks the one year anniversary of this Charlotte Mason podcast. Over the past year, we have received dozens of questions from our listeners and this Q&A is exemplary of the requests we receive and our attempt to address widely varying topics, namely this week: where to find out-of-print living books, the relevance of Charlotte Mason today and the practice of "scaffolding" lessons.
This podcast explores what Charlotte Mason had to say about the skill of writing. Why do the children need to write? What writing must they do? How can they be taught penmanship, spelling, punctuation, and style? Join us in working through this incremental and crucial school subject.
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"I can only offer a few hints on the teaching of writing, though much might be said. First, let the child accomplish something perfectly in every lesson--a stroke, a pothook, a letter. Let the writing lesson be short; it should not last more than five or ten minutes. Ease in writing comes by practice; but that must be secured later. In the meantime, the thing to be avoided is the habit of careless work." (Vol. 1, pp. 233-34)
"[T]here is no part of a child's work at school which some philosophic principle does not underlie." (Vol. 1, p. 240)
"The gift of spelling depends upon the power the eye possesses to 'take' (in a photographic sense) a detailed picture of a word; and this is a power and habit which must be cultivated in children from the first." (Vol. 1, p. 241)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education (Volume 1), Part V, Chapters X-XII
Writing to Learn
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The New Handwriting
This week's podcast illuminates the Charlotte Mason method as it is being practiced in its country of origin: The United Kingdom. Emily interviews, Leah Boden, who discovered Mason and has been implementing her method in her own life and, like us, is working to support and encourage home educators in the knowledge and practice of Charlotte Mason.
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Handbook of Nature Study
Our Island Story
Trial and Triumph
(Contains affiliate links)
Leah's Instagram
Leah's Blog
The Charlotte Mason Show
Leah's Facebook Page
Leah's Periscope Channel
http://www.charlottemasonhelp.com/
Join the HomeschoolLibrary Yahoo Group if you'd like to learn more about starting a lending library!
This week's Charlotte Mason podcast focuses on the all-important task of teaching our children to read. No other subject holds such promise and so many anxieties for the teacher who embarks on teaching this fundamental skill. The ladies share their own experiences and what Mason had to say to help us in the reading lesson.
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"But, as a matter of fact, few of us can recollect how or when we learned to read: for all we know it came by nature." (Vol. 1, p. 200)
"Probably that vague whole which we call 'Education' offers no more difficult and repellent task than that to which every little child is set down--the task of learning to read. We realize the labor of it when some grown man makes a heroic effort to remedy shameful ignorance, but we forget how contrary to nature it is for a little child to occupy himself with dreary hieroglyphics--all so dreadfully alike!--when the world is teeming with interesting objects which he is agog to know." (Vol. 1, p. 214)
"'What a snail's progress!' you are inclined to say. Not so slow, after all: a child will thus learn, without appreciable labour, from 2-3,000 words in the course of a year; in other words, he will learn to read, for the mastery of this number of words will carry him with comfort through most of the books that fall in his way. Now, compare this steady progress and constant interest and liveliness of such lessons with the deadly weariness of the ordinary reading lesson. The child blunders through a page or two in the dreary monotone without expression, with imperfect enunciation. He comes to a word he does not know, and he spells it; that throws no light on the subject, and he is told the word; he repeats it, but as he has made no mental effort to secure the word, the next time he meets with it the same process is gone through. The reading lesson for that day comes to an end. The pupil has been miserably bored, and has not acquired one new word. Eventually, he learns to read, somehow, by mere dint of repetition; but consider what an abuse of his intelligence is a system of teaching which makes him undergo daily labour with little or no result, and gives him a distaste for books before he has learned to use them." (Vol. 1, pp. 206-207)
"We must remember the natural inertness of a child's mind; give him the habit of being read to, and he will steadily shirk the labour of reading for himself; indeed, we all like to be spoon-fed with our intellectual meat, or we should read and think more for ourselves and be less eager to run after lectures." (Vol. 1, p. 228)
"He should have practice, too, in reading aloud [from the books] he is using for his term's work. These should include a good deal of poetry, to accustom him to the delicate rendering of shades of meaning, and especially to make him aware that words are beautiful in themselves, that they are a source of pleasure, and are worthy of our honour; and that a beautiful word deserves to be beautifully said, with a certain roundness of tone and precision of utterance." (Vol. 1, p. 227)
"The attention of his teachers should be fixed on two points--that he acquires the habit of reading, and that he does not fall into slipshod habits of reading." (Vol. 1, p. 226)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education, pp. 199-222)
Better Late Than Early, Raymond Moore
Reading-Literature Series
Thirty Million Words, Dana Suskind
(Contains affiliate links)
Montessori Small Moveable Alphabet
Reading-Literature series on MainLesson.com
This week's podcast episode on the Charlotte Mason method of education--the delectable education--is a question and answer session. Listen to this lively, animated, and slightly controversial discussion of short lessons, nature study, free time, and Bible lessons.
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"Five of the thirteen waking hours should be at the disposal of the children; three, at least, of these, from two o'clock to five, for example, should be spent out of doors in all but very bad weather. This is the opportunity for out-of-door work, collecting wild flowers, describing walks and views, etc." (From "Suggestions" accompanying Programme 42)
"The Children's Day will, on the whole, run thus: Lessons, 1 1/2 to 4 hours; meals, 2 hours; occupations, 1 to 3 hours; leisure, 5 to 7 hours, according to age." (From "Suggestions" accompanying Programme 42)
"Children between 6 and 9 should get a considerable knowledge of the Bible text. By 9 they should have read the simple (and suitable) narrative portions of the Old Testament...and [the Synoptic] Gospels." (Vol. 1, p. 249)
The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling
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Episode 20: Nature Study
Episode 22: Interview with Cheri Struble
John Muir Laws' Website
Episode 41: Interview with Jack Laws, Part 1
Episode 42: Interview with Jack Laws, Part 2
Episode 17: Bible, The Living Book
Living Books Library post on Electronics
Parents' Review Article: Imagination is a Powerful Factor in a Well-Balanced Mind
A Delectable Education's Schedule Cards
This week's Charlotte Mason podcast focuses on language. Mason's method was based on a child's nature, and this is most apparent in observing how her method runs along the line of a child's natural acquisition of language skills.
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"Many persons consider that to learn to read a language so full of anomalies and difficulties as our own is a task which should not be imposed too soon on the childish mind. But, as a matter of fact, few of us can recollect how or when we learned to read: for all we know it came by nature." (Vol. 1, p. 200)
Thirty Million Words, Dana Suskind
(Contains affiliate links)
The Teaching of Mathematics: The Story of An Experiment
This week's Charlotte Mason podcast is another Q&A session with Emily, Nicole, and Liz. It is inevitable, as we implement the feast, that questions of presentation and content arise about details not mentioned in the designated episodes on those subjects, and here are some of the latest ones.
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"Never be within doors when you can rightly be without>" (Vol. 1, p. 42)
"There is no selection of subjects, passages, or episodes on the ground of interest." (Vol. 6, p. 244)
Anne White's Plutarch Books can be found here
(Contains affiliate links)
Nancy Kelly on Plutarch
Anne White's Study Guides free online
Overdrive Media Console
Charlotte Mason knew nature study is critical to the good life and fundamental to education. This week's podcast is the second interview with contemporary naturalist John Muir Laws (Jack) in which he inspires, encourages, and explains to us not only what to do when we go outside, along with many how-to practices we can implement to make the most of that nature study, but how we can change our motivation and focus to experience a rich and rewarding relationship with nature.
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Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv
The Nature Principle, Richard Louv
The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling, John Muir Laws
(Contains affiliate links)
Jack Laws' Website
Jack Laws' Nature Journal Suggested Supplies List
Nature Journaling Club Curriculum
Jack's Blog Post on his favorite blue pencil
CMPeoria "The Field Before Us" Regional Retreat
This Charlotte Mason podcast episode is an interview with John Muir Laws (Jack), inspiring naturalist and scientist. Join Nicole to hear how expertise and aptitude are not key to making strides in discovering the world of nature and science, but that, as Mason asserts, curiosity and willingness to explore are. If you as mother and teacher, or your child as student, are intimidated by the field of science, this interview will set you free to thoroughly partake of this part of the educational feast, and if you are intrigued with the field of science, make you aware of how much more you can enjoy it.
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"Marks, prizes, places, rewards, punishments, praise, blame, or other inducements are not necessary to secure attention, which is voluntary, immediate and surprisingly perfect." (Vol. 6, p. 7)
"Let them get at the books themselves, and do not let them be flooded with a warm diluent at the lips of their teacher. The teacher's business is to indicate, stimulate, direct and constrain to the acquirement of knowledge, but by no means to be the fountain-head and source of all knowledge in his or her own person. The less parents and teachers talk-in and expound their rations of knowledge and thought to the children they are educating, the better for the children." (Vol. 3, p. 162)
John Muir Laws' Website
A Curiosity Framework
This week's Charlotte Mason podcast addresses listener questions. Nicole, Emily, and Liz combine their wisdom and experience to address some very frequently asked concerns.
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Rascal, Sterling North
Owls in the Family, Farley Mowat
My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George
(Contains affiliate links)
Charlotte Mason and Classical Education
More on Charlotte Mason and Classical Education
The Charlotte Mason method applies to many teaching situations beyond traditional classrooms and the homeschool. This week's podcast is an interview recorded at the CMI national conference with Jeannette Tulis of Chattanooga, TN, who has been offered a unique opportunity to open the world of one family's children using the Mason model of education.
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The Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv
(Contains affiliate links)
Grace to Build Retreat
CHarlotte Mason Institute Conferences
In this week's podcast, we discuss why Shakespeare was always included in Charlotte Mason's curriculum. What is the value of Shakespeare as part of the study of literature, and how can we who have little experience with his works enter in and enjoy his feast?
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"Just as we partake of that banquet which is 'Shakespeare' according to our own needs and desires, so do the children behave at the ample board set before them; there is enough to satisfy the keenest intelligence while the dullest child is sustained through his own willing effort." (Vol. 6, p. 245)
"We probably read Shakespeare in the first place for his stories, afterwards for his characters, the multitude of delightful persons with whom he makes us so intimate that afterwards, in fiction or in fact, we say, 'She is another Jessica,' and 'That dear girl is a Miranda'; 'She is a Cordelia to her father,' and, such a figure in history, 'a base lago.' To become intimate with Shakespeare in this way is a great enrichment of mind and instruction of conscience. Then, by degrees, as we go on reading this world-teacher, lines of insight and beauty take possession of us, and unconsciously mould our judgments of men and things and of the great issues of life." (Vol. 4, p. 72)
"This is what Shakespeare, as great a philosopher as a poet, set himself to teach us, line upon line, precept upon precept. His 'Leontes,' 'Othello,' 'Lear,' 'Prospero,' 'Brutus,' preach on the one text––that a man's reason brings certain infallible proofs of any notions he has wilfully chosen to take up. There is no escape for us, no short cut; art is long, especially the art of living." (Vol. 6, pp. 314-15)
"And Shakespeare? He, indeed, is not to be classed, and timed, and treated as one amongst others,––he, who might well be the daily bread of the intellectual life; Shakespeare is not to be studied in a year; he is to be read continuously throughout life, from ten years old and onwards. But a child of ten cannot understand Shakespeare. No; but can a man of fifty? Is not our great poet rather an ample feast of which every one takes according to his needs, and leaves what he has no stomach for?" (Vol. 5, p. 224)
Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury
The Winter of Our Discontent, John Steinbeck
Brave New World, Aldous Huxley
Roller Skates, Ruth Sawyer
The Wonderful Winter, Marchette Chute
Tales from Shakespeare, Charles and Mary Lamb
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare, E. Nesbit
(Contains affiliate links)
Interview with Nancy Kelly
Chronological List of Shakespeare's Plays
American Shakespeare Center
Poetry was a deep love of Charlotte Mason's, and this week's podcast explores that wonder and delight as it can unfold in your school day and life. Are you nervous, intimidated, worried, or resistant to teaching poetry? Listen to this laid back interview between Liz and our good friend, Bonnie Buckingham, veteran homeschool mom who learned to love poetry by teaching it.
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"Poetry is, perhaps, the most searching and intimate of our teachers...Poetry supplies us with tools for the modeling of our lives, and the use of these we must get at ourselves." (Vol. 4, p. 71)
"Heroic Poetry Inspires to Noble Living––"To set forth, as only art can, the beauty and the joy of living, the beauty and the blessedness of death, the glory of battle and adventure, the nobility of devotion––to a cause, an ideal, a passion even––the dignity of resistance, the sacred quality of patriotism, that is my ambition here," says the editor of Lyra Heroica in his preface." (Vol. 2, p. 141)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Parents and Children (Volume 2), Chapter 14
Ourselves (Volume 4), Book II, Section II, Chapter 12
Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6), Book I, Section II (b)
For the Children's Sake
Favorite Poems Old and New
This Singing World
Luci Shaw
Wendell Berry
Billy Collins
Now We Are Six
Emily Dickinson
The Iliad
The Odyssey
Beowulf
Song of Roland
Book of Heroic Verse
Longfellow
Tennyson
Roman Poets
Seamus Heaney
Christina Rossetti
Samuel Coleridge
Richard Wilbur (Contains affiliate links)
Bonnie Buckingham
Charlotte Mason Institute, Western Conference
Grace To Build Retreat
Charlotte Mason Institute
A Delectable Education: Episode 13: Discussion of Charlotte Mason's narrative poetry on the Gospels
What is Poetry? from the Parents' Review
On the Teaching of Poetry from the Parents' Review
The Teaching of Poetry from the Parents' Review
The Teaching of Poetry to Children from the Parents' Review
This week's podcast focuses on Charlotte Mason's ideas for the study of literature. Wait, isn't every subject literature with her use of living books? How does the study of literature fit into her curriculum from the earliest age?
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"Except in Form I the study of Literature goes pari passu with that of History." (Vol. 6, p. 180)
"It is a nice question whether the history of a country makes its literature or its literature the history!" R.A. Pennethorne, Parent's Review, Volume 10, 1899, p. 549
"To adapt a phrase of Matthew Arnold's concerning religion,––education should aim at giving knowledge 'touched with emotion.'" (Vol. 3, p. 220)
"I know you may bring a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink. What I complain of is that we do not bring our horse to the water. We give him miserable little text-books, mere compendiums of facts, which he is to learn off and say and produce at an examination; or we give him various knowledge in the form of warm diluents, prepared by his teacher with perhaps some grains of living thought to the gallon. And all the time we have books, books teeming with ideas fresh from the minds of thinkers upon every subject to which we can wish to introduce children." (Vol. 3, p. 171)
"The 'hundred best books for the schoolroom' may be put down on a list, but not by me. I venture to propose one or two principles in the matter of school-books, and shall leave the far more difficult part, the application of those principles, to the reader. For example, I think we owe it to children to let them dig their knowledge, of whatever subject, for themselves out of the fit book; and this for two reasons: What a child digs for is his own possession; what is poured into his ear, like the idle song of a pleasant singer, floats out as lightly as it came in, and is rarely assimilated. I do not mean to say that the lecture and the oral lesson are without their uses; but these uses are, to give impulse and to order knowledge; and not to convey knowledge, or to afford us that part of our education which comes of fit knowledge, fitly given." (Vol. 3, p. 177)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education, Part V, Chapter VIII
School Education, Chapters XV and XXI
Towards a Philosophy of Education, Book I, Section II (b)
Beowulf
The Odyssey
The Iliad
Ivanhoe
T.S. Eliot's Essays
To Kill a Mockingbird
Pride and Prejudice
The Red Badge of Courage
English Literature for Boys and Girls
Honey for a Child's Heart
Read for the Heart
Realms of Gold
Five Years of Children's Literature
(Contains affiliate links)
Top 10 Books about Books
This podcast episode on the Charlotte Mason method of education focuses on some listener questions, notably, what to do about dawdlers, how to motivate apathetic students, and a couple of particulars about implementing history lessons.
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"Education is a life; that life is sustained on ideas; ideas are of spiritual origin; and, 'God has made us so' that we get them chiefly as we convey them to one another. The duty of parents is to sustain a child's inner life with ideas as they sustain his body with food." (Vol. 2, p. 39)
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch
String, Straightedge, and Shadow
The Story of Geronimo
I Buy a School
Young Fu of the Upper Yangtze
The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind
Stillwell and the American Experience in China
(Contains affiliate links)
This podcast episode's focus describes Charlotte Mason's inclusion of art and music in her essential curriculum. How has our cultural and educational background prejudiced us to favor core subjects over "fine arts" and how did Ms. Mason view these subjects. Further, how are these subjects included and implemented in the week's feast--especially if the mother is unfamiliar or even fearful of tackling this unknown territory?
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"We cannot measure the influence that one or another artist has upon the child's sense of beauty, upon his power of seeing, as in a picture, the common sights of life; he is enriched more than we know in having really looked at even a single picture." (Vol. 1, p. 309)
"They are never copied lest an attempt to copy should lessen a child's reverence for great work." (Vol. 6, p. 216)
"A great promise has been given to the world––that its teachers shall not any more be removed. There are always those present with us whom God whispers in the ear, through whom He sends a direct message to the rest. Among these messengers are the great painters who interpret to us some of the meanings of life. To read their messages aright is a thing due from us. But this, like other good gifts, does not come by nature. It is the reward of humble, patient study." (Vol. 4, p. 102)
"As in a worthy book we leave the author to tell his own tale, so do we trust a picture to tell its tale through the medium the artist gave it." (Vol. 6, p. 216)
"[F]or though every child cannot be a great performer, all may be taught an intelligent appreciation of the beauties of music, and it is a wicked shame to clang the doors of music, and therefore of endless channels of delight and inspiration, in a child's face, because we say he has "no ear," when perhaps his ear has never been trained, or because he never will be able to "play."" (Miss Pennethorne's PR Article)
"Hearing should tell us a great many interesting things, but the great and perfect joy which we owe to him is Music." (Vol. 4, Book I, pp. 30-31)
"Use every chance you get of hearing music (I do not mean only tunes, though these are very nice), and ask whose music has been played, and, by degrees, you will find out that one composer has one sort of thing to say to you, and another speaks other things; these messages of the musicians cannot be put into words, so there is no way of hearing them if we do not train our ear to listen." (Vol. 4, p. 31)
"Many great men have put their beautiful thoughts, not into books, or pictures, or buildings, but into musical score, to be sung with the voice or played on instruments, and so full are these musical compositions of the minds of their makers, that people who care for music can always tell who has composed the music they hear, even if they have never heard the particular movement before." (Vol. 4, p. 31)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education, Part V, Chapter XXI
School Education, p. 239
Towards a Philosophy of Education, Book I, Chapter X, Section II: f
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin, Marguerite Henry | Stories of Favorite Operas, Clyde Robert Bulla | More Stories of Favorite Operas, Clyde Robert Bulla | | Stories of Gilbert and Sullivan Operas, Clyde Robert Bulla | The Ring and the Fire, Clyde Robert Bulla | I, Juan de Pareja, Elizabeth Borton de Trevino | | Opal Wheeler's Composer Biographies | Millet Tilled the Soil, Sybil Deucher | Art for Children series by Ernest Raboff | | Elizabeth Ripley's Artist Biographies | Spiritual Lives of Great Composers, Patrick Kavanaugh | I, Vivaldi, Janice Shefelman |
(Contains affiliate links)
Emily's Picture Study Portfolios
Riverbend Press Artist Prints
This Charlotte Mason podcast focuses on time management: how do we get organized to spread this feast of innumerable subjects, how do we fit everything in, and how do we manage multiple children at various levels with differing needs and subjects. Practical tips, resources, ideas, and time-tested wisdom is abundant in this conversation.
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Our Podcast Episode that talks about the Habit of Attention
Nicole's step-by-step guide to preparing your CM schedule
A Form by Form breakdown of which subjects are studied when and what lessons those subjects include at each age level
Liz, Emily, and Nicole can help you create your own schedule and/or custom curriculum
This week's Charlotte Mason podcast celebrates the role of mothers in their children's education. Ms. Mason had plenty to say to us as mothers and we share our own experiences as mothers in an effort to encourage you. This one's for you, Mom.
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"The children are, in truth, to be regarded less as personal property than as public trusts, put into the hands of parents that they may make the very most of them for the good of society. And this responsibility is not equally divided between the parents: it is upon the mothers of the present that the future of the world depends, in even a greater degree than upon the fathers, because it is the mothers who have the sole direction of the children's early, most impressible years." (Vol. 1, p. 2)
"We are waking up to our duties and in proportion as mothers become more highly educated and efficient, they will doubtless feel the more strongly that the education of their children during the first six years of life is an undertaking hardly to be entrusted to any hands but their own. And they will take it up as their profession––that is, with the diligence, regularity, and punctuality which men bestow on their professional labours." (Vol. 1, pp. 2-3)
"We allow no separation to grow up between the intellectual and 'spiritual' life of children, but teach them that the Divine Spirit has constant access to their spirits, and is their Continual Helper in all the interests, duties and joys of life." (Charlotte Mason's 20th Principle of Education)
"I venture to suggest, not what is practicable in any household, but what seems to me absolutely best for the children; and that, in the faith that mothers work wonders once they are convinced that wonders are demanded of them." (Vol. 1, p. 44)
I Buy a School, Marion Berry
The Story of Charlotte Mason, Essex Cholmondeley (We are in no way suggesting you buy this book for the current price! Linking solely for your information)
(Contains affiliate links)
Grace to Build Retreat
Liz's talk on Mothers (audio download)
ADE Podcast Episode that describes the Great Recognition further
This podcast episode focuses on answering more listener questions about the Charlotte Mason method on some widely varying topics including Bible, narration, and unit studies.
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"Another point, the co-ordination of studies is carefully regulated without any reference to the clash of ideas on the threshold or their combination into apperception masses; but solely with reference to the natural and inevitable co-ordination of certain subjects. Thus, in readings on the period of the Armada, we should not devote the contemporary arithmetic lessons to calculations as to the amount of food necessary to sustain the Spanish fleet, because this is an arbitrary and not an inherent connection; but we should read such history, travels, and literature as would make the Spanish Armada live in the mind." (Vol. 3, pp. 320-21)
"English History is always with us, but only in the earliest years is it studied alone. It is not, as we know, possible always to get the ideal book, so we use the best we can find and supplement with historical essays of literary value. Literature is hardly a distinct subject, so closely is it associated with history, whether general or English; and whether it be contemporary or merely illustrative; and it is astonishing how much sound learning children acquire when the thought of an age is made to synchronise with its political and social developments. A point which I should like to bring before the reader is the peculiar part which poetry plays in making us aware of this thought of the ages, including our own. Every age, every epoch, has its poetic aspect, its quintessence, as it were, and happy the people who have a Shakespeare, a Dante, a Milton, a Burns, to gather up and preserve its meaning as a world possession...Civics takes place as a separate subject, but it is so closely bound up with literature and history on the one hand and with ethics, or, what we call every-day morals, on the other, that the division of subjects is only nominal." (Vol. 6, p. 274)
A Delectable Education, Episode 8: Narration, the Act of Knowing
Bonnie Buckingham
Charlotte Mason had two essential tools to offer children to help them regulate their own behavior. This podcast thoroughly addresses the subject that most matters in the classroom: guiding our children in acting and thinking rightly. Nicole, Liz, and Emily unfold Mason's principles of self-control, self-management, and right reasoning.
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"There are two guides to moral and intellectual self-management to offer to children, which we may call 'the way of the will' and 'the way of the reason.'" (Principle 16)
"The way of the will: Children should be taught, (a) to distinguish between 'I want' and 'I will.' (b) That the way to will effectively is to turn our thoughts from that which we desire but do not will. (c) That the best way to turn our thoughts is to think of or do some quite different thing, entertaining or interesting. (d) That after a little rest in this way, the will returns to its work with new vigour. (This adjunct of the will is familiar to us as diversion, whose office it is to ease us for a time from will effort, that we may 'will' again with added power. The use of suggestion as an aid to the will is to be deprecated, as tending to stultify and stereotype character, It would seem that spontaneity is a condition of development, and that human nature needs the discipline of failure as well as of success.)" (Principle 17)
"But there are few subjects on which those who have the education of children in their hands make more injurious mistakes [than training the will]." (Vol. 1, p. 318)
"“Your arrival at a right destination does not depend upon your choice of a good road, or upon your journeying at a good pace, but entirely upon your starting in the right direction.” (Vol. 4, p. 64)
"The way of reason: We teach children, too, not to 'lean (too confidently) to their own understanding'; because the function of reason is to give logical demonstration (a) of mathematical truth, (b) of an initial idea, accepted by the will. In the former case, reason is, practically, an infallible guide, but in the latter, it is not always a safe one; for, whether that idea be right or wrong, reason will confirm it by irrefragable proofs." (Principle 18)
"Reason, like all other properties of a person, is subject to habit and works upon the material it is accustomed to handle." (Vol. 6, p. 147)
“Perhaps we shall best use this wonderful power of reasoning, commonly called our Reason, by giving it plenty of work to do, by asking ourselves what is the cause of this and that; why do people and animals do certain things. Reason which is not worked grows sluggish; and there are persons who never wonder nor ask themselves questions about anything they see.” (Vol. 4, p. 65)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Ourselves, Volume 4
Formation of Character, Volume 5, Part I, section I
An Essay Towards a Philosophy of Education, Volume 6, Book I, chapter 8-9
| | | | | Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery | Little Britches, Ralph Moody | The Living Page |
(Contains affiliate links)
This Charlotte Mason podcast focuses on the subject of citizenship beyond the study of Plutarch. Are Mason's ideas about the state and the citizen outdated or irrelevant for our students today? This discussion focuses on the subject that studies government, economics, and moral responsibility in the Mason feast.
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"The honour due to our country requires some intelligent knowledge of her history, laws, and institutions; of her great men and her people; of her weaknesses and her strength; and is not to be confounded with the ignorant and impertinent attitude of the Englishman or the Chinese who believes that to be born an Englishman or a Chinese puts him on a higher level than the people of all other countries; that his own country and his own government are right in all circumstances, and other countries and other governments always wrong. But, on the other hand, still more to be guarded against, is the caitiff spirit of him who holds his own country and his own government always in the wrong and always the worse, and exalts other nations unduly for the sake of depreciating his own." (Vol. 4, Book II, p. 121)
“Children familiar with the great idea of a State in the sense, not of a government but of the people, learn readily enough about the laws, customs and government of their country; learn, too, with great interest something about themselves, mind and body, heart and soul, because they feel it is well to know what they have it in them to give to their country.” (Vol. 6, p. 187)
“It is probable that the education of the future will recognise, as its guiding idea, Matthew Arnold's fine saying, that "The thing best worth living for is to be of use." Every man and woman will be a candidate for service beyond the range of his or her own family.” (Vol. 5, p. 447)
"[In Form I] Children begin to gather conclusions as to the general life of the community from tales, fables, and the story of one or another great citizen." (Vol. 6, p. 185)
"[In Form II] Citizenship becomes a definite subject rather from the point of view of what may be called the inspiration of citizenship than from that of the knowledge proper to a citizen, though the latter is by no means neglected." (Vol. 6, p. 185)
“There are few better equipments for a citizen than a mind capable of discerning the Truth, whether it lie on the side of our party or on that of our opponents. But this just mind can only be preserved by those who take heed what they hear, and how.” (Vol 4, p. 154)
"Civics takes place as a separate subject [from history], but it is so closely bound up with literature and history on the one hand and with ethics, or, what we call every-day morals, on the other, that the division of the subjects is only nominal." (Vol. 6, p. 274)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Ourselves (Volume 4)
Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6), pp. 185-189
The Citizen Reader (Used by Mason in the PNEU, Form 2)
Uncle Eric series by Richard Maybury
Gerald Johnson's Books on the government: The Presidency, The Cabinet, The Congress, The Supreme Court
(Contains affiliate links)
Audio Version of Charlotte Mason's Ourselves (Volume 4)
Nancy Kelly is an experienced Charlotte Mason teacher who joins us on this podcast to discuss the teaching of Plutarch. You will enjoy her helpful tips and inspiring wisdom.
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"We take the child to the living sources of history––a child of seven is fully able to comprehend Plutarch, in Plutarch's own words (translated), without any diluting and with little explanation." (Vol. 2, p. 278)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Parents and Children (Volume 2), pp. 278-79
| | | | | Loomis translation (For Teacher Prep) | North's Plutarch (Heritage Press Edition) | Stories from the History of Rome | | | | | Fifty Famous Stories Retold | Nancy's Favorite Retelling |
(Contains affiliate links)
Anne White's Study Guides (free online--scroll down to individual Lives listings)
Nancy's 3-Part Blog series on Plutarch
The Great Courses on Plutarch
Charlotte Mason thought Plutarch an invaluable source of knowledge and moral wisdom in the subject of citizenship. This podcast explores who he was, why Mason thought so, and how the study of the lives he described would inform and enrich our children.
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“In the same way, readings from Plutarch's Lives will afford the best preparation for the study of Grecian or of Roman history.” (Vol. 1, p. 286)
“[T]he principle being, that, whenever practicable, the child should get his first notions of a given period, not from the modern historian, the commentator and reviewer, but from the original sources of history, the writings of contemporaries.” (Vol. 1, p. 285)
“Perhaps nothing outside of the Bible has the educational value of Plutarch’s Lives.” (Vol. 3, p. 236)
“[The Lives] stand alone in literature as teaching that a man is part of the State, that his business is to be of service to the State, but that the value of his service depends upon his personal character.” (Vol. 3, p. 280)
“...an early education from the great books with the large ideas and the large virtues is the only true foundation of knowledge--the knowledge worth having.” (Vol. 6, p. 308)
"We take the child to the living sources of history––a child of seven is fully able to comprehend Plutarch, in Plutarch's own words (translated), without any diluting and with little explanation." (Vol. 2, p. 278)
“We read him his Tanglewood Tales, and when he is a little older his Plutarch, not trying to break up or water down, but leaving the child's mind to deal with the matter as it can.” (Vol. 2, pp. 231-232)
“[Plutarch] hath written the profitable story of all authors. For all other were fain to take their matter, as the fortune of the countries whereof they wrote fell out: But this man being excellent in wit, learning, and experience, hath chosen the special acts of the best persons, of the famousest nations of the world.” (Thomas North as quoted by Mason in Vol. 6, p. 274)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education (Volume 1), pp. 286-87
School Education (Volume 3), pp. 152, 235, 280-81, 286-89
Ourselves (Volume 4), Book I, Chapter 2
Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6), Book I, Section II, "Morals and Economics"
| | | | | Stories from the History of Rome | North's Plutarch | The Plutarch Primer (Publicola) | | | | | | Plutarch Project, Vol. 1 | Plutarch Project, Vol. 2 | The Children's Plutarch | | | | | | Plutarch retold by Weston | Plutarch retold by Kaufman | Ten Famous Lives |
(Contains affiliate links)
Stories from the History of Rome (free online)
Anne White's Study Guides (free online--scroll down to individual Lives listings)
The Children's Plutarch (free online)
Weston's Plutarch (free online)
Kaufman's Plutarch (free online)
Charlotte Mason's education is not just for children. This podcast is a discussion of three mothers who have found that Mason has influenced them in ways they never could have dreamed when they took up her methods. Listen to discover all the ways the delectable feast can nourish you, the teacher.
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"The mother cannot devote herself too much to [nature] reading, not only that she may read tit-buts to her children about matters they have come across, but that she may be able to answer their queries and direct their observations. And not only the mother, but any woman who is likely ever to spend an hour or two in the society of children, should make herself mistress of this sort of information; the children will adore her for knowing what they want to know, and who knows but she may give its bent for life to some young mind designed to do great things for the world." (Vol. 1, pp. 64-65)
Find a Charlotte Mason group in your area
Find a Charlotte Mason Retreat in your area
Charlotte Mason Institute National Conferences
Charlotte Mason Institute Regional Conferences
Other Charlotte Mason Endeavors Near You
Grace to Build Retreat
Living Education Retreat
CM West Retreat
More Upcoming CM Conferences on the West Coast
Simply Charlotte Mason Seminars
Audio Download of Liz's Plenary at Grace to Build Retreat last year: "Mothers: The Living Books Our Children Read"
Charlotte Mason Institute Collaborative Blog
Fisher Academy Blog
Charlotte Mason Blog Carnival Link Up
Sage Parnassus
This podcast addresses common questions that arise as parents and teachers pursue knowledge of the Charlotte Mason method. Whether specific small questions, or large philosophic ones, they are common to most of us and Nicole, Emily and Liz attempt to draw from the deep well of Mason's own writings, as well as their experience in applying that wisdom, to meet the most frequent perplexities head on.
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"[H]e knew that that which he beheld of lowly living and service and suffering was 'glory.'" (Scale How Meditations, p. 49)
| | | | | The Phantom Tollbooth, Norman Juster | The 21 Balloons, William Pene du Bois | My Side of the Mountain, Jean Craighead George | | | | | | Old Yeller, Fred Gipson | Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls | Harry Potter Series, J.K. Rowling | | | | | | Rascal, Sterling North | Deathwatch, Robb White | Read-Aloud Handbook, Jim Trelease | | | | The Living Page, Laurie Bestvater |
(Contains affiliate links)
Scale How Meditations (see page 49 for quote discussed)
A Delectable Education, Episode 4: Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life
Charlotte Mason is extraordinary in the arts and humanities, but does her method really work for science, especially in an age when science is king? This podcast will address all the aspects of teaching science that put most average parents in a panic at the high school level and you will find yourself eager to get on with it.
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"Our aim in Education is to give a Full Life.––We begin to see what we want. Children make large demands upon us. We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. Thou hast set my feet in a large room; should be the glad cry of every intelligent soul. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking––the strain would be too great––but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest. We cannot give the children these interests; we prefer that they should never say they have learned botany or conchology, geology or astronomy. The question is not,––how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education––but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?" (Vol. 3, pp. 170-71)
“Where science does not teach a child to wonder and admire it has perhaps no educative value.” (Vol. 6, p. 224)
"Geology, mineralogy, physical geography, botany, natural history, biology, astronomy––the whole circle of the sciences is, as it were, set with gates ajar in order that a child may go forth furnished, not with scientific knowledge, but with, what Huxley calls, common information, so that he may feel for objects on the earth and in the heavens the sort of proprietary interest which the son of an old house has in its heirlooms." (Vol. 3, p. 79)
“The essential mission of school science was to prepare pupils for civilised citizenship by revealing to them something of the beauty and the power of the world in which they lived, as well as introducing them to the methods by which the boundaries of natural knowledge had been extended. School science, therefore, was not intended to prepare for vocations, but to equip pupils for life. It should be part of a general education, unspecialised, in no direct connexion with possible university courses to follow.” (Sir Richard Gregory, quoted by Charlotte Mason in Vol. 6, p. 222)
"So much attention is now given to the practical and systematic study of science in schools that the valuable influence of descriptive scientific literature is apt to be overlooked. An intimate knowledge of the simplest fact in nature can be obtained only through personal observation or experiment in the open air or in the laboratory, but broad views of scientific thought and progress are secured best from books in which the methods and results of investigation is stated in language that is simple without being childish.
"Books intended to promote interest in science must differ completely from laboratory guides, textbooks, or works of reference. They should aim at exalting the scientific spirit which leads men to devote their lives to the advancement of natural knowledge, and at showing how the human race eventually reaps the benefit of such research. Inspiration rather than information should be the keynote; and the execution should awaken in the reader not only appreciation of the scientific method of study and spirit of self sacrifice, but also a desire to emulate the desires of men whose labors have brought the knowledge of nature to its present position." (From The Wonders of Physical Science by Edward Fourlier, used in PNEU)
The Mystery of the Periodic Table
For the Love of Physics
(Contains affiliate links)
Read-Aloud Revival Episode with Dr. Pakaluk
Nicole's Website with loads of information on living CM science
*NEW Living Science Study Guides--Nicole guides us through a term or year of Middle School Biology
Keeping a Science Notebook
Living Science Ideas scroll down for a subject by subject list of living books
This podcast episode explores the ideas and objectives Charlotte Mason considered necessary for the study of science for grades 1-6. Listen to hear clear guidelines to follow, book suggestions, and practical applications for teaching science.
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If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education (Volume 1), Part V, Chapter XVI
School Education (Volume 3), Chapter 21, Part II
Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6), Book I, Chapter 10, Section III
| | | | | Eyes and No Eyes Series | Among the...People Series | Margaret Waring Buck Books | | | | | | Glenn Blough | Delia Goetz | James Herriot | | | | | | Burgess Animal Book | Burgess Book of Nature Lore | Burgess Bird Book | | | | | | Otus | Major | Luna | | | | | | Backyard Birds of Summer | Backyard Birds of Winter | Nature Reader | | | | | | Madam How & Lady Why | Life & Her Children | Storybook of Science | | | | | | The Sciences | The Stars | JSB of Rain, Hail, Sleet & Snow | | | | | | Climate Maps | Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Books | Soap Science |
(Contains affiliate links)
Nicole's Elementary Science Page at SabbathMoodHomeschool.com
Charlotte Mason did not consider nature study to be optional. This podcast is an interview with a mother with eight children who took Mason's words to heart and exerted the effort to make it happen. Listen to her experiences and practical hints for being a successful mother of young naturalists.
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"Never be within doors when you can rightly be without." (Vol. 1, p. 42)
"I venture to suggest, not what is practicable in any household, but what seems to me absolutely best for the children; and that, in the faith that mothers work wonders once they are convinced that wonders are demanded of them." (Vol. 1, p. 44)
"We were all meant to be naturalists, each in his degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things." (Vol. 1, p. 61)
Natural History Clubs from The Parents' Review via the Charlotte Mason Digital Collection:
"Our P.N.E.U. Natural History Club"
"Natural History Club"
"P.N.E.U. Natural History Clubs"
"The Educational Value of Natural History"
Charlotte Mason Institute National Conference
Grace to Build Retreat
This podcast episode explains Charlotte Mason's use of nature lore books and how they expand outdoor nature study work. Listen for lots of hints of our favorite such books.
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"Our main dependence is on books as an adjunct to out-of-door work...In [these] books the children are put in the position of the original observer of biological and other phenomena. They learn what to observe, and make discoveries for themselves, original so far as they are concerned. They are put in the right attitude of mind for scientific observations and deductions, and their keen interest is awakened." (Vol. 3, p. 237
"The real use of naturalists' books is to give the child delightful glimpses into the world of wonders he lives in, reveal the sorts of things to be seen by curious eyes, and fill him with desire to make discoveries for himself." (Vol. 1, p. 64)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
The Charm of Nature Study, Parents' Review Article
Eyes and No Eyes Series, Arabella Buckley or online here.
Madam How and Lady Why, Charles Kingsley or online here.
Life and Her Children, Arabella Buckley
The Storybook of Science, Jean Henri Fabre or online here.
Winners in Life's Race, Arabella Buckley or online here.
We Were There with Charles Darwin on the H.M.S. Beagle, Philip Eisenberg
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek, Annie Dillard
John Muir Books
John Burroughs
Autumn Across America, Edwin Way Teale
Life of the Spider, Jean Henri Fabre
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate, Jacqueline Kelly
The Grasshopper Book, Wilfrid Bronson
Robert McClung Books
Olive Earle Books
Millicent Selsam Books
Charles Ripper Books
Alice Goudey Books
Girl of the Limberlost, Gene Stratton-Porter
The Keeper of the Bees, Gene Stratton-Porter
A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold
William Long Books
Treasury for Children, James Herriot
All Creatures Great and Small, James Herriot
Rascal, Sterling North
(Contains affiliate links)
This podcast episode explores the reasons Charlotte Mason gave for the necessity of a child's education to include a vast familiarity with the outside world. Beyond discussing why nature study is critical to knowledge of God, the benefits to personal growth, and its fundamental effects on future academic success, many practical suggestions for accomplishing this essential study are discussed to encourage your family's implementation of and regular involvement in nature study.
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"We were all meant to be naturalists, each in his degree, and it is inexcusable to live in a world so full of the marvels of plant and animal life and to care for none of these things." (Vol. 1, p. 61)
"When children are old enough to understand that science itself is in a sense sacred, and demands some sacrifice, all the common information they have been gathering until then, and the habits of observation they have acquired, will form an excellent ground work for a scientific education. In the meantime let them consider the lilies of the field and fowls of the air." (Vol. 1, p. 63)
"Consider, too, what an unequalled mental training the child-naturalist is getting for any study or calling under the sun––the powers of attention, of discrimination, of patient pursuit, growing with his growth, what will they not fit him for? Besides, life is so interesting to him, that he has no time for the faults of temper which generally have their source in ennui; there is no reason why he should be peevish or sulky or obstinate when he is always kept well amused." (Vol. 1, pp. 61-62)
"Never be within doors when you can rightly be without." (Vol. 1, p. 42)
"The first buttercup in a child's nature note book is shockingly crude, the sort of thing to scandalize a teacher of brush-drawing, but by and by another buttercup will appear with the delicate poise, uplift and radiance of the growing flower." (Vol. 6, p. 217)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education (Volume 1), Part II
School Education (Volume 3), pp. 236-238
"The Charm of Nature Study" by G. Dowton, an article from the Parent's Review
The Handbook of Nature Study, Anna Comstock
The Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv
(Contains affiliate links)
Charlotte Mason Digital Collection
Nature Journal Examples {Here}, {Here}, and {Here}
John Muir Laws' Nature Journaling site
Examples of Bird and Flower Lists
PR Article on the benefits to language from Nature Study
Our discussions on the subject of history resulted in an onslaught of questions. This podcast episode slowly and carefully addresses the most common and frequently asked history concerns, misunderstandings, and points of confusion we have received about Charlotte Mason's approach to teaching this subject.
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"We introduce children as early as possible to the contemporary history of other countries as the study of English history alone is apt to lead to a certain insular and arrogant habit of mind." (Vol. 6, p. 175)
"The flowers, it is true, are not new; but the children are; and it is the fault of their elders if every new flower they come upon is not to them a Picciola, a mystery of beauty to be watched from day to day with unspeakable awe and delight." (Vol.1, p.53)
Colonial Living, Edwin Tunis
Frontier Living, Edwin Tunis
Our Island Story, H.E. Marshall
Winston Churchill and the Story of Two World Wars, Olivia Coolidge
Most Gracious Majesty: The Story of Queen Elizabeth II, Elinor Parker
The Battle of Britain, Quentin Reynolds
The Story of Edith Cavell, Iris Vinton
(Contains affiliate links)
Check out Leah Boden's Periscope, The Charlotte Mason Show
The scope of the subject of geography matches the size of the world it covers and Charlotte Mason's approach to this subject is likewise vast and multifaceted. This podcast episode discusses the purpose of geography study, the variety of resources used for learning, and gives a broad overview of the progression throughout forms I to VI.
The Bible is the most authoritative and ancient of all books and Mason considered its lessons to be the supreme lesson, leading most directly to knowledge of God. This podcast explores why she was of this opinion, why we must not neglect its lessons, and how those lessons should be presented.
Since it's impossible to cover every aspect of a subject each week, questions arise in our listeners' minds. Many of you are sending us your questions and in this podcast we attempt to thoroughly answer a few of these based on the wisdom of Charlotte Mason and our experience in using her method. This is the first of several sporadic Q&A sessions we will post.
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The March of Folly, Barbara Tuchman
Hannah Coulter, Wendell Berry
(Contains affiliate links)
Addall Used Book Search Engine
Living Books Library's Book Sale Pages
List of living books libraries around the country
Another list of living books libraries
Ten Books you can read in Ten Minutes a Day
Liz's Annual List of Books She Read
Beyond the books, what are some tools that are useful in putting history into living color for a child? At what age should we begin to use a timeline, or should we use a timeline at all? How do we implement the book of centuries? Listen in as we wrestle with some of the things that make history lessons come alive.
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If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education (Volume 1), pg. 292
Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6), pg. 177
Miss Beale's Parents' Review Article on "The Teaching of Chronology"
Parents' Review Article on making and keeping a Book of Centuries
The Living Page, Laurie Bestvater
(Contains affiliate links)
Laurie Bestvater's Book of Centuries
Another Book of Centuries from Riverbend Press
Bernau's Article on the Book of Centuries With much gratitude to the Charlotte Mason Institute for making this PDF available
Beale's Article on the Teaching of Chronology With much gratitude to the Charlotte Mason Institute for making this PDF available
H.B.'s Article on the Teaching of History With much gratitude to the Charlotte Mason Institute for making this PDF available
Biggar's Article on How to Make a Century Chart With much gratitude to the Charlotte Mason Institute for making this PDF available
When we are clear in the direction we are headed in our children's history studies, know the time period and the order and the streams to cover, what books will we use to explore those unfathomable numbers of events and characters in history? Is a spine necessary? What is the real value of a biography? How much should we be concerned about the historical accuracy of the account we are reading? Explore these ideas with us in this episode.
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"[B]ut let the mother beware: there is nothing which calls for more delicate tact and understanding sympathy with the children than this apparently simple matter of choosing their lesson-books, and especially, perhaps, their lesson-books in history." (Vol. 1, pg. 289)
"We know that young people are enormously interested in the subject and give concentrated attention if we give them the right books." (Vol. 6, pg. )
"The knowledge of children so taught is consecutive, intelligent and complete as far as it goes, in however many directions." (Vol. 6, pg. 158)
"In Form IV the children are promoted to Gardiner's Student's History of England, clear and able, but somewhat stiffer than that they have hitherto been engaged upon." (Vol. 6, pg. 176)
"Of all the pleasant places in the world of mind, I do not know that any are more delightful than those in the domain of History. Have you ever looked through a kinetoscope? Many figures are there, living and moving, dancing, walking in procession, whatever they happened to be doing at the time the picture was taken. History is a little like that, only much more interesting, because in these curious living photographs the figures are very small and rather dim, and most attentive gazing cannot make them clearer; now, History shows you its personages, clothed as they were clothed, moving, looking, speaking, as they looked, moved, and spoke, engaged in serious matters or in pleasures; and, the longer you look at any one person, the more clearly he stands out until at last he may become more real to you than the people who live in your own home." (Vol. 4, pg. 36)
"The fatal mistake is in the notion that he must learn 'outlines,' or a baby edition of the whole history of England, or of Rome, just as he must cover the geography of all the world. Let him, on the contrary, linger pleasantly over the history of a single man, a short period, until he thinks the thoughts of that man, is at home in the ways of that period. Though he is reading and thinking of the lifetime of a single man, he is really getting intimately acquainted with the history of a whole nation for a whole age." (Vol. 1, pg. 280)
"Literature is dangerous--except when taken in large doses." --Martin Cothran (quoted here.)
America Begins, Alice Dalgliesh
America Builds Homes, Alice Dalgliesh
And There Was America, Roger Duvoisin
Land of the Free, Enid LaMonte Meadowcroft
D'Aulaire Picture Biographies
Gerald Johnson's A History for Peter: America is Born (Volume 1)
America Grows Up (Volume 2)
America Moves Forward (Volume 3)
Dorothy Mills' History Books, Reprints available as well
Paul Johnson's Histories
Barbara Tuchman's Histories
Basic History of the United States, Clarence Carson
The Silent Storm, Marion Marsh Brown and Ruth Crone
Isaac Newton, Harry Sootin
(Contains affiliate links)
A wonderful resource with reviews of living books series, See especially Messner Biographies, Signature Series, Garrard History Series Books, and Landmark Books
Merry Christmas! As we celebrate the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we took a break from discussing history to bring you a special episode. Art Middlekauff shares with us a lesser-known, but very important work by Charlotte Mason herself--her poetic reflections on the Life of Christ entitled, The Saviour of the World. We hope this episode, and more importantly, these poems, will bless you and yours today and in the year to come.
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You can find Art Middlekauff's blog here
The Savior of the World (online)
Hardback reprints of Volumes 1, 3, 4, and 5
Paperback reprints of Volumes 1, 2, and 3
This post describes an app to read an online Bible with links to the corresponding Saviour of the World Poems
In Memorium
In Mason's day, the subject of history was covered differently from our common approaches to that subject today. How do the records show she managed the study of ancient through modern history in all the age levels? More important, how can we follow her principles and keep history study relevant to our day? Emily, Nicole, and Liz attempt to distill these truths in an orderly conversation that will reveal a rich feast of history for a child.
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"The early history of a nation is far better fitted than its later records for the study of children, because the story moves on a few broad, simple lines.” (Vol. 1, pg. 281)
“We are not content that they should learn the history of their own country alone; some living idea of contemporaneous [meaning existing or occurring in the same period of time] European history, anyway, we try to get in; that the history we teach may be the more living, we work in, pari passu [meaning side by side; at the same pace], some of the literature of the period and some of the best historical novels and poems that treat of the period; and so on with other subjects.” (Vol. 3, pg. 67)
History Rotation Diagrams we at A Delectable Education have put together to clarify the rotations and "streams" of history study through the school forms
Charlotte Mason Digital Collection
Sample "Forms" Schedule from the P.N.E.U.
The subject of history brings groans to some and yawns to others, but Mason considered it the pivotal subject in her curriculum. Listen in as these moms discuss some of Charlotte Mason's beliefs about the teaching of history and why it is centrally important to the subjects that give the "Knowledge of Man" and provides much, much more than a knowledge of dates and facts of wars and famous events.
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“Not what we have learned, but what we are waiting to know is the delectable part of knowledge.” (Vol.3, p. 224)
"Next in order to religious knowledge, history is the pivot upon which our curriculum turns." (Vol. 6, p. 273)
"But to read English history and fail to realise that it is replete with interest, sparkling with episode, and full of dramatic incident, is to miss all the pleasure and most of the instruction which its study, if properly pursued, can give." (vol. 1, pp. 290-91)
“[H]istory is an entrancing subject of study,” (Vol. 1, p. 292)
"[I]t seems to be necessary to present ideas with a great deal of padding, as they reach us in a novel or poem or history book written with literary power." (Vol. 6, p. 109)
"For the matter for this intelligent teaching of history, eschew, in the first place, nearly all history books written expressly for children; and in the next place, all compendiums, outlines, abstracts whatsoever." (Vol. 1, p. 281)
"[O]ut of a whole big book he may not get more than half a dozen of those ideas upon which his spirit thrives; and they come in unexpected places and unrecognised forms, so that no grown person is capable of making such extracts from Scott or Dickens or Milton, as will certainly give him nourishment. It is a case of,––'In the morning sow thy seed and in the evening withhold not thine hand for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that.' [Eccl. 11:6]" (Vol. 6, pp. 109-110)
“Now imagination does not descend, full grown, to take possession of an empty house; like every other power of the mind, it is the merest germ of a power to begin with, and grows by what it gets; and childhood, the age of faith, is the time for its nourishing. The children should have the joy of living in far lands, in other persons, in other times––a delightful double existence; and this joy they will find, for the most part, in their story books. Their lessons, too, history and geography, should cultivate their conceptive powers. If the child do not live in the times of his history lesson, be not at home in the climes of his geography book describes, why, these lessons will fail of their purpose.” (Vol. 1, p. 153)
"It is a great thing to possess a pageant of history in the background of one's thoughts." (Vol. 6, p. 178)
"To us in particular who are living in one of the great epochs of history it is necessary to know something of what has gone before in order to think justly of what is occurring to-day." (Vol. 6, p. 169)
"It is not too much to say that a rational well-considered patriotism depends on a pretty copious reading of history, and with this rational patriotism we desire our young people shall be informed rather than with the jingoism of the emotional patriot." (Vol. 6, p. 170)
"[A]void giving children cut-and-dried opinions upon the course of history while they are yet young." (Vol. 1, p. 288)
"I will not press my point by urging the moral bankruptcy which has been exposed to us during recent years as co-existent with, if not caused by, utilitarian education." (Vol. 6, pp. 282-83)
“He who reads history in this way, not to pass examinations, nor to obtain culture, nor even for his own pleasure (delightful as such reading is), but because he knows it to be his duty to his country to have some intelligent knowledge of the past, of other lands as well as of his own, must add solid worth to the nation that owns him.” (Vol. 4, pp. 74-75)
"[T]hat the history we teach may be the more living, we work in, pari passu, some of the literature of the period and some of the best historical novels and poems that treat of the period; and so on with other subjects.” (Vol. 3, p. 67)
“Literature is hardly a distinct subject, so closely is it associated with history, whether general or English; and whether it be contemporary or merely illustrative; and it is astonishing how much sound learning children acquire when the thought of an age is made to synchronise with its political and social developments.” (Vol.6, p. 274)
“The co-ordination of subjects is carefully regulated without any reference to the clash of ideas on the threshold or their combination into apperception masses; but solely with reference to the natural and inevitable co-ordination of certain subjects. . .we should read such history, travels, and literature as would make the Spanish Armada live in the mind.” (Vol. 3, p. 231)
“Every nation has its heroic age before authentic history begins: these were giants in the land in those days, and the child wants to know about them. He has every right to revel in such classic myths as we possess as a nation…” (Vol. 1, p. 284)
"Much that has been said about the teaching of geography applies equally to that of history." (Vol. 1, p. 279)
"It is a great thing to possess a pageant of history in the background of one's thoughts. We may not be able to recall this or that circumstance, but, 'the imagination is warmed'; we know that there is a great deal to be said on both sides of every question and are saved from crudities in opinion and rashness in action. The present becomes enriched for us with the wealth of all that has gone before." (Vol. 6, p.178)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education (Volume 1): Part V, Chapter XVIII
School Education (Volume 3): Appendix II, notes pertaining to history lessons and sample exam questions and answers
Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6): Book I, Chapter 10, Section II, a
Whether in homeschooling, public or private schooling, the teacher finds that the appeal and wonder of narration that Charlotte Mason employed is not without its challenges. This episode addresses commonly asked questions and confusion surrounding the implementation of narration to offer some practical solutions to difficulties you may encounter in the classroom.
Homeschooling with Charlotte Mason's method is truly a joy when employing her foundational, and unique, use of narration. This episode unpacks the basics of why children make excellent narrators and learn abundantly through building that skill, as well as some basics of how to begin and make use of "telling."
If you desire to use living books in your children's education, but are not confident of your ability to discern which books are "living" and which are not, this episode contains the practical information you need. Criteria for determining if a book is living are described carefully, examples read, along with ways to identify and eliminate twaddle from your bookshelves.
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"[T]he boy who has not formed the habit of getting nourishment out of his books in school-days does not, afterwards, see the good of reading. He has not acquired, in an intellectual sense, the art of reading, so he cannot be said to have lost it; and he goes through life an imperfect person, with the best and most delightful of his powers latent or maimed." (The Formation of Character, pg. 291)
"I am speaking now of his lesson-books, which are all too apt to be written in a style of insufferable twaddle, probably because they are written by persons who have never chanced to meet a child." (Home Education, pg. 229)
“This sort of weak literature for the children, both in any story and lesson books, is the result of a reactionary process. Not so long ago the current impression was that the children had little understanding, but prodigious memory for facts; dates, numbers, rules, catechisms of knowledge, much information in small parcels, was supposed to be the fitting material for a child's education. We have changed all that, and put into the children's hands lesson-books with pretty pictures and easy talk, almost as good as story-books; but we do not see that, after all, we are but giving the same little pills of knowledge in the form of a weak and copious diluent. Teachers, and even parents, who are careful enough about their children's diet, are so reckless as to the sort of mental aliment offered to them, that I am exceedingly anxious to secure consideration for this question, of the lessons and literature proper for the little people." (Home Education, pgs. 176-77)
"[H]ungry souls clamouring for meat, and we choke them off, not by shutting up schools and colleges, but by offering matter which no living soul can digest. The complaints made by teachers and children of the monotony of the work in our schools is full of pathos and all credit to those teachers who cheer the weary path by entertaining devices. But mind does not live and grow upon entertainment; it requires its solid meals." (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pg. 90)
“They must grow up upon the best. There must never be a period in their lives when they are allowed to read or listen to twaddle or reading-made-easy. There is never a time when they are unequal to worthy thoughts, well put; inspiring tales, well told.” (Parents and Children, pg. 263)
"A book may be long or short, old or new, easy or hard, written by a great man or a lesser man, and yet be the living book which finds its way to the mind of a young reader. The expert is not the person to choose; the children themselves are the experts in this case. A single page will elicit a verdict; but the unhappy thing is, this verdict is not betrayed; it is acted upon in the opening or closing of the door of the mind." (School Education, pgs. 228-229)
"The 'hundred best books for the schoolroom' may be put down on a list, but not by me. I venture to propose one or two principles in the matter of school-books, and shall leave the far more difficult part, the application of those principles, to the reader. (School Education, pg. 177)
"So much for the right books; the right use of them is another matter. The children must enjoy the book." (School Education, pg. 178)
"As for literature--to introduce children to literature is to install them in a very rich and glorious kingdom, to bring a continual holiday to their doors, to lay before them a feast exquisitely served. But they must learn to know literature by being familiar with it from the very first. A child’s intercourse must always be with good books, the best that we can find." (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pg. 51)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education, Part V, Chapter VIII
School Education, Chapters XVI and XXI
Geronimo, Catherine Welch (our "not living" example)
The Story of Geronimo, Jim Kjelgaard
Pinocchio, Carlo Collodi
Little Britches, Ralph Moody
Plutarch's Lives
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, Jean Lee Latham
Principia, Isaac Newton
Of Other Worlds, C.S. Lewis
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, Barbara Kingsolver
(Contains affiliate links)
The blog post that Emily wrote explaining her "L-I-V-I-N-G" anagram for determining living books:
L-I-V-I-N-G Books
Living books are the heart of a Mason education. Education is a life, and living books are the food the mind requires for its nourishment. Liz, Emily, and Nicole share excerpts from some living books to demonstrate the power of living ideas. They discuss some reasons why living books are the richer road to engaging a child's imagination, inspire and feed their thirst for knowledge, and why textbooks do not.
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"A corollary of the principle that education is the science of relations, is, that no education seems to be worth the name which has not made children at home in the world of books, and so related them, mind to mind, with thinkers who have dealt with knowledge. We reject epitomes, compilations, and their like, and put into children's hands books which, long or short, are living." (School Education, p. 226)
"In literature, we have definite ends in view, both for our own children and for the world through them. We wish the children to grow up to find joy and refreshment in the taste, the flavour of a book. We do not mean by a book any printed matter in a binding, but a work possessing certain literary qualities able to bring that sensible delight to the reader which belongs to a literary word fitly spoken. It is a sad fact that we are losing our joy in literary form. We are in such haste to be instructed by facts or titillated by theories, that we have no leisure to linger over the mere putting of a thought. But this is our error, for words are mighty both to delight and to inspire. If we were not as blind as bats, we should long ago have discovered a truth very fully indicated in the Bible––that that which is once said with perfect fitness can never be said again, and becomes ever thereafter a living power in the world. But in literature, as in art, we require more than mere form. Great ideas are brooding over the chaos of our thought; and it is he who shall say the thing we are all dumbly thinking, who shall be to us as a teacher sent from God." (Parents and Children, pgs. 262-63)
“Again, we have made a rather strange discovery, that the mind refuses to know anything except what reaches it in more or less literary form. It is not surprising that this should be true of children and persons accustomed to a literary atmosphere but that it should be so of ignorant children of the slums points to a curious fact in the behaviour of mind. Persons can ‘get up’ the driest of pulverised text-books and enough mathematics for some public examination; but these attainments do not appear to touch the region of the mind.” (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pg. 256)
“Once more, we know that there is a storehouse of thought wherein we may find all the great ideas that have moved the world. We are above all things anxious to give the child the key to this storehouse. The education of the day, it is said, does not produce reading people. We are determined that the children shall love books, therefore we do not interpose ourselves between the book and the child. We read him his Tanglewood Tales, and when he is a little older his Plutarch, not trying to break up or water down, but leaving the child’s mind to deal with the matter as it can.” (Parents and Children, pg. 232)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
School Education, Chapters XV and XVI
Towards a Philosophy of Education, Book I, Chapter VII
The Silent Storm, Marion Marsh Brown and Ruth Crone
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Rocks, Rivers, and the Changing Earth, Herman and Nina Schneider
A Tree for Peter, Kate Seredy
The White Stag, Kate Seredy
All About the Planet Earth, Patricia Lauber
(Contains affiliate links)
One thing leads to another, it is said, but the powerful interrelation of knowledge and experience Mason identified is the process we must recognize and capitalize on in teaching. She called it the "science of relations" and this episode is an animated discussion that not only defines what Mason meant, but is packed with descriptions of how these three women have observed the process at work in their children's lives. This truly is the exciting aspect of teaching, observed in themselves and their children.
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(11) But we, believing that the normal child has powers of mind which fit him to deal with all knowledge proper to him, give him a full and generous curriculum; taking care only that all knowledge offered him is vital, that is, that facts are not presented without their informing ideas. Out of this conception comes our principle that,--(12) “Education is the Science of Relations”: that is, that a child has natural relations with a vast number of things and thoughts; so we train him upon physical exercises, nature lore, handicrafts, science and art, and upon many living books, for we know that our business is not to teach him all about anything. “Those first-born affinities that fit our new existence to existing things.” (Preface to the Home Education Series)
"The mind can know nothing but what it can produce in the form of an answer to a question put by the mind itself." (Parents and Children, pg. 218)
"A small English boy of nine living in Japan, remarked, 'Isn't it fun, Mother, learning all these things? Everything seems to fit into something else.' The boy had not found out the whole secret; everything fitted into something within himself." (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pgs. 156-57)
“Much of what we have learned and experienced in childhood, and later, we cannot reproduce, and yet it has formed the groundwork of after knowledge; later notions and opinions have grown out of what we once learned and knew. That is our sunk capital, of which we enjoy the interest though we are unable to realise.” (Home Education, pg. 154)
“At the same time, the child's capacity for knowledge is very limited; his mind is, in this respect at least, but a little phial with a narrow neck; and, therefore, it behooves the parent or teacher to pour in only of the best.” (Home Education, pg. 175)
“You will see at a glance, with this Captain Idea of establishing relationships as a guide, the unwisdom of choosing or rejecting this or that subject, as being more or less useful or necessary in view of a child's future. We decide, for example, that Tommy, who is eight, need not waste his time over the Latin Grammar. We intend him for commercial or scientific pursuits,––what good will it be to him? But we do not know how much we are shutting out from Tommy's range of thought besides the Latin Grammar. He has to translate, for example,––'Pueri formosos equos vident.' He is a ruminant animal, and has been told something about that strong Roman people whose speech is now brought before him. How their boys catch hold of him! How he gloats over their horses! The Latin Grammar is not mere words to Tommy, or rather Tommy knows, as we have forgotten, that the epithet 'mere' is the very last to apply to words. Of course it is only now and then that a notion catches the small boy, but when it does catch, it works wonders, and does more for his education than years of grind. Let us try, however imperfectly, to make education a science of relationships––in other words, try in one subject or another to let the children work upon living ideas. In this field small efforts are honoured with great rewards, and we perceive that the education we are giving exceeds all that we intended or imagined.” (School Education, pgs. 162-63)
"Children can be most fitly educated on things and books." (School Education, pg. 214)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
School Education, chapters VII, XVII, and XVIII
Towards a Philosophy, Introduction and chapter I
Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, Jean Lee Latham
America Moves Forward, Gerald Johnson
Rip van Winkle, Washington Irving
Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin, Marguerite Henry
The Romance of Chemistry, Keith Irwin
Madame How and Lady Why, Charles Kingsley
The Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv
(Contains affiliate links)
If education is not information, what is it? How do we as teachers feed the whole person's natural desire to know? Emily, Nicole, and Liz discuss the tools to implement in education, the motto Mason took for her teachers: "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life," defining, discussing, and providing real life instances of these instruments put into practice.
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- These principles are limited by the respect due to the personality of children, which must not be encroached upon whether by the direct use of fear or love, suggestion or influence, or by undue play upon any one natural desire. 5. Therefore, we are limited to three educational instruments--the atmosphere of environment, the discipline of habit, and the presentation of living ideas. The P.N.E.U. Motto is: "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life." (Preface to the Home Education Series)
"The child breathes the atmosphere emanating from his parents; that of the ideas which rule their own lives." (Parents and Children, pg. 247)
"Parents and teachers should know how to make sensible use of a child's circumstances (atmosphere) to forward his sound education." (School Education, pg. 182)
"Attention is hardly even an operation of the mind, but is simply the act by which the whole mental force is applied to the subject in hand...For whatever the natural gifts of the child, it is only in so far as the habit of attention is cultivated in him that he is able to make use of them." (Home Education, pgs. 145-146)
"A single idea may be a possession so precious in itself, so fruitful, that the parent cannot fitly allow the child's selection of ideas to be a matter of chance; his lessons should furnish him with such ideas as shall make for his further education." (Home Education, pg. 174)
"In the early days of a child's life it makes little apparent difference whether we educate with a notion of filling a receptacle, inscribing a tablet, moulding plastic matter, or nourishing a life, but as a child grows we shall perceive that only those ideas which have fed his life, are taken into his being; all the rest is cast away or is, like sawdust in the system, an impediment and an injury." (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pgs. 108-109)
"A time-table, written out fairly, so that the child knows what he has to do and how long each lesson is to last." (Home Education, pg. 142)
"A Child gets through their morning lessons without any sign of weariness." (Home Education, pg. 142)
"It is only as we recognise our limitations that our work becomes effective: when we see definitely what we are to do, what we can do, and what we cannot do, we set to work with confidence and courage; we have an end in view, and we make our way intelligently towards that end, and a way to an end is method. It rests with parents not only to give their children birth into the life of intelligence and moral power, but to sustain the higher life which they have borne." (Parents and Children, pg. 33)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education, Part V: Lessons as Instruments of Education
Parents and Children, chapters IV, VII, and XXII
School Education, chapter XIV
Towards a Philosophy of Education, chapter VI
Charlotte Mason has a unique view of the student and the way in which he learns. This episode focuses on the role of the teacher and how his responsibilities and approach to teaching likewise take on a different perspective in her method. Nicole, Emily and Liz begin with a comparison of traditional teaching qualifications versus Mason's requirements for teachers, concluding with the life-changing help every teacher has at her disposal.
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"We may not despise them, or hinder them ('suffer the little children'), or offend them by our brutish clumsiness of action and want of serious thought; while the one positive precept afforded to us is 'feed' (which should be rendered 'pasture') 'my lambs,' place them in the midst of abundant food." (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pg. 81)
"[Y]ou may bring a horse to the water, but you cannot make him drink. What I complain of is that we do not bring our horse to the water. We give him miserable little text-books, mere compendiums of facts, which he is to learn off and say and produce at an examination; or we give him various knowledge in the form of warm diluents, prepared by his teacher with perhaps some grains of living thought to the gallon. And all the time we have books, books teeming with ideas fresh from the minds of thinkers upon every subject to which we can wish to introduce children." (School Education, pg. 171)
"[T]he great recognition, that God the Holy Spirit is Himself, personally, the Imparter of knowledge, the Instructor of youth, the Inspirer of genius, is a conception so far lost to us that we should think it distinctly irreverent to conceive of the divine teaching as co-operating with ours in a child's arithmetic lesson, for example. But the Florentine mind of the Middle Ages went further than this: it believed, not only that the seven Liberal Arts were fully under the direct outpouring of the Holy Ghost, but that every fruitful idea, every original conception, whether in Euclid, or grammar, or music, was a direct inspiration from the Holy Spirit, without any thought at all as to whether the person so inspired named himself by the name of God, or recognised whence his inspiration came." (Parents and Children, pg. 270-71)
“Let this be the mother's key to the whole of the education of each boy and each girl; not of her children; the Divine Spirit does not work with nouns of multitude, but with each single child. Because He is infinite, the whole world is not too great a school for this indefatigable Teacher, and because He is infinite, He is able to give the whole of his infinite attention for the whole time to each one of his multitudinous pupils. We do not sufficiently rejoice in the wealth that the infinite nature of our God brings to each of us.” (Parents and Children, pg. 273)
"[W]e perceive that the great work of education is to inspire children with vitalising ideas as to every relation of life, every department of knowledge, every subject of thought; and to give deliberate care to the formation of those habits of the good life which are the outcome of vitalising ideas. In this great work we seek and assuredly find the cooperation of the Divine Spirit, whom we recognise, in a sense rather new to modern thought, as the supreme Educator of mankind in things that have been called secular, fully as much as in those that have been called sacred." (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pg. 173)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Parents and Children (Volume 2), Chapter 25
School Education (Volume 3), Chapters 1-3
Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6), Chapters 5 and 10, section 2
Mornings in Florence, John Ruskin
(Contains affiliate links)
The Descent of the Holy Spirit Fresco here and here
Charlotte Mason's first principle of education is that "Children are born persons." This sounds simple, but Emily, Nicole, and Liz examine the complexity of this view and why it is unique in existing educational models and practices. They each share personal and practical examples of the difference such a concept makes for a child being educated in Mason's method.
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"In a word, we are very tenacious of the dignity and individuality of our children. We recognise steady, regular growth with no transition stage...put the first thing foremost, do not take too much upon ourselves, but leave time and scope for the workings of Nature and of a higher Power than Nature herself." (Parents and Children, pg. 232)
"The question is not,--how much does the youth know? when he has finished his education--but how much does he care? and about how many orders of things does he care? In fact, how large is the room in which he finds his feet set? and, therefore, how full is the life he has before him?" (School Education, pgs. 170-71)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
Home Education (Volume 1), Part I, Chapters 1-7
School Education (Volume 3), Chapters 4 and 8
Towards a Philosophy of Education (Volume 6), Chapters 2 and 5
Emily Kiser of Living Books Library describes the purpose for this podcast series. Each of the three members of this discussion group introduces herself and explains how she became a homeschooling mother. Since the goal of this series is to explore the ideas of Charlotte Mason, each mother also shares how she became interested in Mason's educational method. Finally, a discussion of why schooling with a philosophical outlook is crucial ensues.
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"But knowledge is delectable." (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pg. 89)
"We spread an abundant and delicate feast...all sit down to the same feast and each one gets according to his needs and powers." (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pg. 183)
"There are four means of destroying the desire for knowledge:––
(a) Too many oral lessons, which offer knowledge in a diluted form, and do not leave the child free to deal with it.
(b) Lectures, for which the teacher collects, arranges, and illustrates matter from various sources; these often offer knowledge in too condensed and ready prepared a form.
(c) Text-books compressed and recompressed from the big book of the big man.
(d) The use of emulation and ambition as incentives to learning in place of the adequate desire for,and delight in, knowledge." (School Education, pg. 214)
"The reader will say with truth,--'I knew all this before and have always acted more or less on these principles' and I can only point to the unusual results we obtain through adhering not 'more or less' but strictly to the principles and practices I have indicated." (Towards a Philosophy of Education, pg. 19)
If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series and other Parent's Review articles that would be helpful for this episode's topic. You may also read the series online here, or get the free Kindle version from Fisher Academy.
The Preface to the Home Education Series, found at the beginning of each volume
An Educational Manifesto, (PR Article)
For the Children's Sake, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
(Contains affiliate links)
www.sabbath-mood-homeschool.com Nicole Williams' blog where you can find ideas for teaching living science as well as information on how to schedule your Charlotte Mason lessons
www.livingbookslibrary.com The blog and website for Living Books Library--lots of living book recommendations, hints on developing a reading culture in your home as well as audio versions of Charlotte Mason's Home Education Series and living books for sale
Picture Study Portfolios A complete resource for Picture Study written by Emily Kiser--instructions on how to teach picture study, an artist biography, eight full-page laminated art prints, and notes on each painting