I'm by no means an expert, but Charlotte has had a profound impact on my family and on our homeschool, and I've been asked to give some information about her, so I'm happy to share what I do know.
In the past, I've been drawn to Charlotte Mason but have chosen many times to go with a different philosophy or outlook in the education of my own children, found that it wasn't working for my family, and then tried Charlotte's way, and found it to be superior. I've even gone through phases where I was VERY distrustful of her ideas, but as time went on they proved to be effective in areas I was really struggling with. So by trial and error, I find myself saying often "I wish I had trusted Charlotte more from the beginning."
There are a lot of people out there providing a "Charlotte Mason" style curriculum these days. There is need to make definitions and help people understand what a CM education is and what it isn't, because the ideas that people have about Charlotte's methods aren't always accurate.
From the very beginning, it's critical to say that in your own homeschool, implementing the methods I'm about to describe will give you a good foundation, but they will not provide your child with "a Charlotte Mason education" unless you read her works for yourself and incorporate her world view, ideas, and vision into your parenting and schooling choices. They are a good backdrop, but they aren't the heart of a CM education. They are necessary methods, but they aren't the only thing you have to do to consider your children "educated" by Charlotte's standards. If you have seen kids raised on Charlotte Mason's ideas and want that for your own family, it won't happen just by incorporating just one or two of these ideas-- it's actually the combination of methods working together towards an ideal or vision shared with Charlotte that creates the whole picture.
For that reason, it is critical that ANY parent who plans on implementing a Charlotte Mason education read her works themselves. I have been reading Charlotte Mason's works for seven years. In the beginning, I didn't have that much interest, but as I grew and experimented with parenting and schooling ideas, I became very attached to her and to her ideas. In our homeschool, Charlotte is like a trusted, old friend. But that only came about because we read her works. We still are, and we are still learning from her daily.
You can purchase her works in printed form or read them free online at Ambleside, and if you plan on pursuing a CM education that should be your first stop after reading this blog.
What is a Charlotte Mason education?
A Charlotte Mason education is an education that follows the philosophy of victorian-era educator Charlotte Mason. In her time, children were receiving what's known as a Classical eduction, and she chose to make some positive changes in the way that education was provided, such as considering with great care that a child is a person, not a programmable machine.
In a nutshell, her philosophy can be described as "self-education." Her goal was to teach children to learn to love learning, and therefore to be able to learn anything and always seek what is right and true and good.
Charlotte believed that education did not end with "school" but was a whole life experience. She is famous for saying that "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life." Meditating on that gives one a sense of what she was trying to accomplish.
Her motto for students was "I can. I am. I ought. and I will!"
Her philosophy is best encompassed in the following quote:
“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?”
Charlotte was also a Christian. For the curious, she was Episcopalian by denomination (therefore accepted in many ways by both Catholic/Orthodox AND protestants) and her faith informed everything she said and did. The end-all, be-all of education, in her mind, was knowledge of God.
There are secular Charlotte Mason curriculum providers out there, but they will not be, by nature, completely in line with her way of thinking. Her goal was to pass on faith.
“This idea of all education springing from and resting upon our relation to Almighty God-we do not merely give a religious education because that would seem to imply the possibility of some other education, a secular education, for example. But we hold that all education is divine, that every good gift of knowledge and insight comes from above, that the Lord the Holy Spirit is the supreme educator of mankind, and that the culmination of all education (which may at the same time be reached by a little child) is that personal knowledge of and intimacy with God in which our being finds its fullest perfection.”
She did not focus on religious education, therefore, but did include daily catechism instruction and Bible study in her schedules. She also tried to help children understand from the beginning that all things they study in creation come from God and ultimately can lead us to Him.
How does CM compare to other educational styles?
CM is not child-led. Therefore CM is not unschooling, nor is it related to Waldorf or Montessori, although they may share some qualities and ideas. CM is NOT a unit-studies approach. CM is not "traditional" in the sense of the modern educational methodology in which subjects are taught one after the other using textbooks in a teacher-directed classroom setting where an hour or so is afforded each subject and tests or examinations constitute affirmation of knowledge. CM IS classical, but it retains an element of human dignity and gentle-ness that is not present in most Classical mindsets. It does teach the liberal arts, and focus on philsophy and reason, but only insofar as philosophy and reason help us to understand God and creation, not so much for the sake of itself. CM can be described as "well-rounded," incorporating many elements but also standing on it's own and completely unique.
What are CM's methods?
There are several methods Charlotte advocated using. If you are new to CM but not to homeschooling, I suggest going through these in order, and beginning to implement them one by one, rather than making a big change all at once. The important thing to realize is that Charlotte viewed education as "an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life." In that regard, choosing a Charlotte Mason education means that the entire family is embarking upon an educational journey and way of life. It is not confined to "school hours."
The first of these is a foundation built on good habits. Charlotte advocated teaching good habits from birth and focused in the early years on habits of obedience, truthfulness, and attention above all.
Giving a child plenty of good habits, from personal care to religious habits and everything in between "lays the rails" so to speak and allows a family to develop order and ordered thoughts. This is critical. If you realize that your child has many "bad" habits, instead of despairing, select a good habit and begin to work on it. When that one is established, select a new habit and work on that one, keeping an eye on the old habit.
The best book available on Charlotte Mason's ideas about habits is found here.
It takes all of Charlotte's quotes about habits and arranges them in a clear format. I consider this book the Charlotte Mason parenting Basic Training Manual, and recommend it to everyone.
The second of these is the idea of a living education using living books. Most people are attracted to CM without knowing much about it based solely on this concept-- that we should select excellent literature over garbage and that we should teach from "real" books (biographies, historical novels, etc) over textbooks. These books place the student in context and help them to really feel their way into a subject by bringing it to life. As a caveat, I should say that many, many people think they are doing this by using "living books" in their curriculum, but then cramming tons of them into their year. CM advocated developing a relationship with a book, reading it slowly over months and years, as opposed to all at once. Even for her youngest students, she also took an "only the best" approach, avoiding what she called "twaddle" (books that weren't literary in quality-- junk food books) and books which overstimulated due to graphics or anything else. Think older books--- books using complex language in creative ways and with few, beautiful illustrations, for example. Charlotte also read poetry to her children every day and they were expected to frequently memorize poems and hymns and passages of scripture or catechism.
Next, there is the method of narration. Narration is the art of "telling back" and is the foundation of a Charlotte Mason language arts program. Through it the child learns composition and demonstrates reading comprehension. Vocabulary is built. Narration is the key that unlocks the CM education because it creates a relationship between the child and the text. In order to use narration in your homeschool, first select a passage that contains one episode--- usually a chapter, but it can be as short as a paragraph, especially for younger children. BEFORE you read, identify any complicated ideas or words you think the child may have problems with. For younger children, it may help to draw a narration map containing all the main characters and events in picture, or for an older child you can simply write on a white board the names of the places and people involved. Then read the story all the way through. Do not repeat yourself. If the child misses what happened.... tell them to pay closer attention next time and don't go back. Read animatedly and with expression in your voice. Do not stop to explain terms you think are difficult, but if the child asks what something means feel free to go ahead and answer and move on. Once you are done reading, close the book and ask the child for a narration. In the beginning, they may give you only a sentence, but within weeks of daily practice they will be able to re-tell the story, often surprising you with the vivid details and language they can use. After they have narrated, you can join in the "Great conversation." This is the dialogue of the ages and puts you in partnership with other thinkers of ideas gone past. Have the child ask you his or her questions. Don't ask your own until they have done so, but feel free then to point out something they might have missed. The idea is to allow them to make their own connections. Do not begin to use this method until the child is ready-- ideally around 6. Never force a narration out of a child younger than six. In the beginning, the child will be narrating books which you have read to her/him. By the end, the child will be narrating his/ her own books to you--- usually starting around 3rd or 4th grade.
The Book of Centuries is next. Like many homeschoolers, Charlotte Mason's students used a timeline, but instead of a flat timeline they created their own timeline notebook. This enabled them to interact with the topics they studied and see them in chronological order as a whole leading through time. When you study a historical person, place, or event, you can include it in your Book of Centuries. Usually, families with students younger than 4th grade will have a communal Book of Centuries and then each student will keep their own. For younger students I will often put the narration map we drew into the book as the entry for that event or person-- it later helps to jog their memory when they go over the book. In geography, Charlotte used map drills, usually asking children to fill in blank map outlines. She also used poetry and art and nature study to help children develop a relationship with the lands they studied.
Copywork and dictation is the CM answer to spelling, grammar, and handwriting. Charlotte wanted her students to have legible handwriting that wasn't complicated and she used a technique that many people today equate with the italic font. Many CM homeschoolers, including my family, use the Getty Dubay handwriting program because it shares many facets with CM's ideas about handwriting and helps to build the habit of attention. However, no handwriting program is necessary-- Charlotte simply showed the child how to form the letters and focused on perfect execution. Once a child is comfortable enough forming the letters, he or she can begin copywork. Pull a sentence or paragraph (start with a small sentence!) from their schoolbooks and ask them to copy it exactly. Demand perfection and encourage the child to do his or her best work. Do not let them turn in sloppy work!
Once copywork has begun it continues throughout the years. Charlotte's students kept a copybook called a "Book of Mottoes" where they transcribed passages that they intended to use for character formation. My students keep a copybook where they transcribe poems, scripture passages, and hymn lyrics they find meaningful. Once copywork is established you can begin dictation. This again is a foundational method-- select a passage from the child's reading. Allow the child to read it over and internalize it, and then read it aloud to the child who then writes it without looking. Correct the mistakes made during the dictation and have him/her copy it over.
Charlotte didn't teach Grammar to children below 4th grade. Her students, however, were incredible writers and oral narrators, and had a much higher reading level than other children in comparison.
Short lessons is a fundamental CM way of ensuring things get done without overstimulating the young child. Subjects are rotated out one at a time, with a varied schedule (ie. we do something different each day) and with short lesson times. Younger children (up through 3rd or 4th grade) will use increments of just 10-15 minutes, and older children 20-30 minutes. This ensures that we get a lot done in one day without making things dreary and difficult for the child. Further, it builds good habits-- it teaches the child that there is no time for foolishness and that dawdling does not pay. Charlotte emphasized the need to train dawdling right out of a child. She said: "When a child grows stupid over a lesson, it is time to put it away."
She advocated putting it away and doing something COMPLETELY different with the child and then coming back to it afterwards. This is a very effective way of both training them to work and yet still doing so gently so that there are few "blow ups." CM parents, I've noticed, who follow this advice have the least schooltime resistance from their children. In fact, it becomes delightful.
Nature Study is another method of Charlotte's that formed all her students and created in them many wonderful habits. For her, nature study was a critical part of our overall mental health, our religious education, our physical health, our habit/character formation, and many other important facets of our personality. Charlotte Advocated going outside for great lengths of time, every day, rain or shine, cold or heat. If you intend to run or are thinking about running a CM homeschool, know that you AND your students will spend a great deal of time outdoors. Her students had nature journals which they painted or drew in, and learned to identify and befriend every aspect of the natural world around them. Although we do FORMAL nature study once a week in my house (sometimes twice) we spend time outdoors every single day, and many times we spend MOST of the day out there. Of all the CM methods, this is the one that has produced, in conjunction with intentional habit forming, the most beautiful visible results in my home. Nature study IS science for the first six years or so of a CM child's education, and learning to identify and connect with and order the natural world, scientists will tell you, is the perfect building block and foundation for later scientific study in other areas (chemistry, biology, physics-- all take on a purpose when we have awe and respect for the natural world and the created order.)
Fine Arts Studies and Handicrafts are other integrated aspects of Charlotte's methods. A child receiving a CM education will, in one week, do a hymn study, a folk music study, a classical composer study, a poem study, and a picture study. These more or less resemble each other in method: the child is shown a picture or listens to a piece of music, discusses various aspects of it, and it is then learned and put away. These lessons are short and very enjoyable. Children of all ages can be put together on the same piece of art or music, which makes family time interesting and lively. Handicrafts are crafts that produce works--- such as needlepoint, wood working, etc. These are usually worked on in the afternoons, after "school" is finished.
There are many other aspects of a CM education, but these are the core methods.
What about the early years?
In the early years, Charlotte focused very much on good personal habits, and advocated leaving formal "school" of any kind out of the picture COMPLETELY until about age six. Younger children should get plenty of see and touch experiences and interactions with the REAL world (not plastic food, but making real food with mom in the kitchen. Not pretending to study nature, but being given a real magnifying glass and a real journal to draw in. Etc.) They should get plenty of outdoor time and exercise, healthy food, and lots of love and affection. They should also be learning discipline and forming habits of cleanliness, obedience, truthfulness, attention, moral habits, religious habits, etc.
Charlotte believed in giving children room to grow and lots of free space to do so. She didn't believe in directing their play, but in leaving them to their imaginations. However, she advocated strongly for the development of good habits-- so the children were not "wild" as some might imagine, but instead free, disciplined, and delightful.
Children with older siblings doing formal school should certainly be free to participate in family schoolwork such as picture study, hymn study, read alouds if they desire, etc.
Regarding the early years, Charlotte Mason said:
"Away with books, and 'reading to'--for the first five or six years of life. The endless succession of story-books, scenes, shifting like a panorama before the child's vision, is a mental and moral dissipation; he gets nothing to grow upon, or is allowed no leisure to digest what he gets."She also said:
"In this time of extraordinary pressure, educational and social, perhaps a mothers first duty to her children is to secure for them a quiet and growing time, a full six years of passive receptive life, the waking part of it for the most part spent out in the fresh air."
A wonderful resource for the Early Years is this book.
Is there a pre-made curriculum you recommend that can be called "Charlotte Mason" style?
There are a few CM curriculum providers out there, but the beauty of a CM education is that the parent can carefully select, using her standards, whatever books feel right for the family. The closest curriculum to that which Charlotte used herself is called Ambleside Online. This is the curriculum I use myself, but because there are a few un-Catholic concepts presented in the history books selected, namely about the reformation and about the way we Catholics look at the religious historical aspects of England or America, for example.
Concerned Catholics then created an attempt at a Catholic Charlotte Mason Curriculum, called Mater Amabilis. (at the time of writing this blog, their website appears to be down for the moment.)
Personally, I prefer Ambleside to Mater Amabilis for many reasons, and use Ambleside with no problem, simply substituting any concerning material on my own. I read the children's schoolbooks ahead of time so I'm well aware of what to look out for, and I find the selections on Ambleside to be far superior to anything else put out there. In fact, as an adult I enjoy my first grader's selections as much as she does. You can read about my own substitutions and booklists here on my homeschooling blog.
Ambleside also uses almost all books available online for free, and does not charge for the use of their curriculum. The project is a labor of love made by a community of women who, like myself, have fallen in love with Charlotte's ideas and methods. I love to support them and promote them and am happy to help any Catholics who desire to use Ambleside with a little tweaking because it is thanks to Ambleside that I can say we have a truly delightful homeschooling experience.
What about scheduling?
Daily, a CM student will practice:
Phonics/ Reading and free reading
Arithmetic
Copywork/Dictation
Grammar if s/he is in 4th grade or above
Oral or written narration
Poetry
Foreign language
Bible study
Outdoor time
Habit formation
Handicrafts
Weekly, a CM student will practice:
Nature Study
Map Drills
Book of Centuries
Picture Study
Hymn Study
Classical study
Poet study
Folk music study
Music Theory/Instrument
Art
Citizenship
In addition, each term a CM student will study both selections from Shakespeare and from Plutarch.
In our homeschool, we devote one day a week to each subject. We discuss the bible at breakfast. After breakfast, we pray together. Then the day "begins."
In the early parts of the day we do the hard stuff: exercise, chores and the "dreary" 3Rs, and then we break for outdoor time and nature study. The later part of the morning is devoted to reading living books on the day's subject, narration, and conversation. We then eat lunch, take naps, do some crafts or projects, have dinner, pray together again, and then read all together before bed.
Our basic schedule is:
Mondays: Science & Nature study
Tuesdays: Literature & Poetry
Wednesdays: Geography & Biography
Thursdays: History & Church History
Fridays: Music & Arts
A CM student is able to do all this AND to finish formal school before noon each day because there is an order and structure to the day. It is truly amazing to see and participate in. If you have any questions please feel free to post them below, and let me know how I can help you get started. The best advice I can give you is to begin to read Charlotte's works yourself. Ask other homeschooling mothers around you if they are using Charlotte's Methods. Spend some time getting to know the wonderful CM resources available on the internet, especially at Ambleside Online.
Have fun!
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