Two weekends ago, Rachel and I got to drive 2 hours to Des Moines to spend Friday and Saturday at a homeschool conference put on by the NICHE group. WOW, I had such a good time! I'm not sure if it was 4 hours to talk to Rachel in the car, the info on CM (Charlotte Mason) or the very thought provoking keynote speaker, Voddie Baucham (more on him in another post). But I need to type my learning points so we'll just put it in the blog.
CM was a late 19th and early 20th century educator in England. What draws me to her method of teaching children is her amazing ability to integrate faith into everything, her ability to teach kids to love to learn and inspire their minds, and the simplicity of it all. That and it's a good match for a lot of what I'm already doing and addresses some of the problems areas (writing) well.
CM had a couple great mottos. First for the students: I am (a child of God). I can (do all things through Christ). I ought (to obey my parents and my Lord). I will (be all God has made me to be). And for parents: Education is an atmosphere (everything around us provides learning), a discipline (teaching habits and character), and a life (living ideas that continue to inspire throughout our days).
CM believed in well written "living books". We're not talking the "twaddle" that is published in this day and age (mostly). We're talking books that told first hand accounts of real heroes, narrative stories of important concepts and ideas in rich vocabulary and flowing style. (The kind where you can find a quote nearly anywhere.) She has a list at amblesideonline.org for a start.
These living books were to be used for history and science, literature and even for art appreciation, music appreciation and poetry. Children were to listen to (or read themselves when older) short lessons (10-20 min for younger, up to 30-45 for high school) where the teacher simply read ONCE and asked for a narration (oral or written for older students). A mother/teacher lets the students draw their own connections but helps them by employing a "Book of Centuries" where they record, by century, important events and people (from whatever area they were studying) and a regiment of copywork and later, prepared dication that came directly from passages the students were studying.
For young students, an interesting phrase or sentence (Bible verse, poetry line, quote) was used, and they were to copy with complete attention and perfect execution. This was their handwriting but also helped them see good spelling, grammar and English and filled their storehouses of words and enlightening ideas to meditate. Then older children were to look at a similar passage (eventually several paragraphs) study the words (no more than a few) they didn't know and look carefully at punctuation and capitalization. Then they were to complete a prepared dictation given by the teacher and supervised very carefully. Later, students would begin to find their own inspiring passages and would carefully copy them into their own Book of Mottos.
Reading is taught in a similar way. Very gently. Lots of good books. Looking for phonics application and sight words in the text as mother reads and eventually sharing the reading, and then reading alone with a narration always at the end to check for comprehension. The goal of language arts was accurate communication since CM was right to point out that a deception is not just an out and out lie but also comes when someone communicates inaccurately either on purpose or not.
Math was to be full of hands on lessons and problem solving. Less on the 'rules' and memorizing algorithms and more on figuring out how to work the numbers. A focus on accuracy also was employed. Why? So a child would be honest in all business dealings and not make mistakes.
Nature study was employed. At least one afternoon a week, children were to be "turned loose" outside (rain or shine) and a good sketch book and quality art supplies made available as mother (or teacher) participated but didn't lead the discoveries. A few field guides and specimen jars with maybe a microscope or at least a magnifying glass would be very helpful. Children should learn at preschool age to identify everything in their yards or parks nearby-- from plants to birds to insects and animals. They should be taught to worship their Creator who made such a wonderous world for them to enjoy.
Foreign language and Latin/Greek would be taught in a small amount (a few words at a time) and first by listening and speaking (to a native speaker) before they read and write. Latin and Greek are to promote vocabulary in all languages with those roots.
Art and music appreciation was to be employed as follows. Choose one artist and one composer about every 6 weeks. For art, show the children a print by the artist. Let them study it hard and get it all in their mind's eye. (Always focus on attention and remembering--huge life skills.) Then shut the book and have the children narrate what they saw. Open it and have them check. Then if they are able, have them draw the "chief lines" of the work on paper from memory. Also, have a narrative biography available to read a little here and there so they get an idea about the history of the person's life (add to book of centuries). Do one print study each week and at the end the child will know the artists' style and something about him/her. The same thing goes for the composer...but listening to a work of his/hers throughout the week instead.
The thing I love most about Charlotte Mason---though all the aforementioned ideas and methods are wonderful--is her understanding that children need to be taught good habits, intentionally and consistently. If they don't have habits such as paying attention, obeying immediately, listening respectfully, persevering/fortitude, and 60 more lovely characteristics (simplycharlottemason.com), it doesn't matter how wonderful an education they are exposed to...they will not be "all God has created them to be". Habits are little roads in their minds that make it easy to do the right thing in hard situations because they have been practiced in not-so- hard situations. For a Christian child (or mother) these habits turn to areas of discipleship such as Bible reading and study, memorizing and meditating on Scripture, praying, serving, etc. These are the disciplines that, if trained in childhood..."when he is old, he will not depart from it." This is what I pray for my children...that they will come to faith and then grow to be more like Jesus every day. More than anything I want myself and my children to show his glory to others in what we say and do and be willing to give our lives, no matter what the cost, for the sake of Him who has saved us and given us eternal life.
A Charlotte Mason education...I want that for my kids. I want that for myself.
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