Farewell vain world, I'm going home!

Click here to hear it.


Farewell, vain world! I'm going home!

My savior smiles and bids me come,

And I don't care to stay here long!

Sweet angels beckon me away,

To sing God's praise in endless day,

And I don't care to stay here long!

(Chorus:)

Right up yonder, Christians, away up yonder,

O, yes my Lord, for I don't care to stay here long.


I'm glad that I am born to die,

From grief and woe my soul shall fly,

And I don't care to stay here long!

Bright angels shall convey me home,

Away to New Jerusalem,

And I don't care to stay here long!


(Chorus:)

Right up yonder, Christians, away up yonder,

O, yes my Lord, for I don't care to stay here long.


(Chorus:)

Right up yonder, Christians, away up yonder,

O, yes my Lord, for I don't care to stay here long.

Troubleshooting at home

LOVED this quote today from a Charlotte Mason themed blog on troubleshooting CM-style.


"Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life."


This past week, our CM reading group discussed the above, which is Charlotte Mason's fifth principle of her philosophy of education. She says we are limited to these three. That's it. There's nothing else, because she believed everything else was a form of manipulation, or it was preying upon the child's sinful tendencies. If we bribe them, we appeal to their greed; if we hold up prizes, we appeal to their avarice; if we threaten them, we appeal to their fears, and so on.

Stories for Children by Isaac Singer

Stories for Children by Isaac Bashevis Singer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

We were given this book as a gift and I had never heard of it.
I had a peek and decided to use it in our homeschool- what a treat it turned out to be!
This is such a beautiful, interesting, and endlessly entertaining collection of short stories for children. We read it as a literature supplement and a read-aloud and the entire family enjoyed them  tremendously.
These tales are strongly moral, left us with interesting discussion points, and Singer is an amazing storyteller.
Many of the stories included made us giggle out loud, and best of all they were clear and understandable by even the youngest ones in our house.
Although they will be of special interest to Jewish children, they can be enjoyed by anyone.
Highly recommended!


View all my reviews

A winter nature study

It's term two and we are now into studying trees for nature study... here are some of today's activities.

Closer still.

Our Pope has resigned, effective Feb. 28th, and we awoke with heavy hearts.

The Pope who asked us, when he took office, to pray for him, lest he flee for fear of the wolves.

His resignation letter said:
"However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the bark of Saint Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me."

The world is so complex now. We can hardly breathe.

Yesterday, I felt compelled to speak to my friends on facebook as lent began, and to tell them that I am certain beyond all certainty that families are being tested and will continue to experience strong trials to strengthen them for the persecution ahead.
As Lent begins, I feel certain that God is doing a work in the laity and that Satan will try to steal the blessing God has intended for families who are willing to take the challenge. We must pray, and strive for holiness, against all odds. God will meet us here in this darkness and do a beautiful work.

In fact, when we arrived at our parish for mass, already decorated in heavy purple and black, we were quite surprised to find that our priest had something in mind for the families present:  he had us renew our marriage vows!! As we stood and spoke the words, hands clasped, all our children between us, we both cried.
Indeed, our marriage was in need of that strengthening and the renewal of our covenant. We are living in challenging times.

When I regrouped with my husband last night, he shared with me that he felt concerned that something was going to happen to the Holy Father.
He was right. When we awoke this morning, the news was racing through our minds--- what will happen next?

The Prophecy of St Malachy, of course, comes to mind.
Our next pope, according to the Prophecy:

In the extreme persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit... Peter the Roman, who will Nourish the sheep in many tribulations; when they are finished, the city of seven hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people. The end.

What will happen next? No one knows, but we must pray. I, for one, am beyond thankful that when I woke up my husband with tears in my eyes to tell him the news, his response was to gather our whole family together into our bed, a bed which he made for me like Odysseus, tenderly building his own  for Penelope, and to lead us in the rosary, the prayer of prayers.
With our children gathered around us, we prayed the sorrowful mysteries, asking God to make us more like Christ. Christ who suffered the agony in the Garden. Christ who was scourged at the pillar. Christ who was crowned with thorns and mocked. Christ who carried his Cross. Christ who was crucified, but rose again in Glory. May God have mercy on us all.

For those struggling to understand, Scott Hahn's facebook page gives us some insight:

Back on April 29, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI did something rather striking, but which went largely unnoticed.

He stopped off in Aquila, Italy, and visited the tomb of an obscure medieval Pope named St. Celestine V (1215-1296). After a brief prayer, he left his pallium, the symbol of his own episcopal authority as Bishop of Rome, on top of Celestine's tomb!

Fifteen months later, on July 4, 2010, Benedict went out of his way again, this time to visit and pray in the cathedral of Sulmona, near Rome, before the relics of this same saint, Celestine V.

Few people, however, noticed at the time.

Only now, we may be gaining a better understanding of what it meant. These actions were probably more than pious acts. More likely, they were profound and symbolic gestures of a very personal nature, which conveyed a message that a Pope can hardly deliver any other way.

In the year 1294, this man (Fr. Pietro Angelerio), known by all as a devout and holy priest, was elected Pope, somewhat against his will, shortly before his 80th birthday (Ratzinger was 78 when he was elected Pope in 2005). Just five months later, after issuing a formal decree allowing popes to resign (or abdicate, like other rulers), Pope Celestine V exercised that right. And now Pope Benedict XVI has chosen to follow in the footsteps of this venerable model.

For more information about Pope Benedict XVI and what he was doing with the Church during his reign, please read this book.

As you like it

Burgess Bird Book resources

Thoughts on habits and catechesis

We have really been enjoying using Neumann Press' "Our Holy Faith" series and I'm thankful for the opportunity to use it.
It dawned on me the other day, though, that unlike the Bible, a catechism series takes a little prep-work. I have to have a direction I'm going with it and not just read it aloud. There is a teacher's manual, but it wasn't helping me with what I was looking for. I wanted to get more out of those books-- to squeeze them for all the life they contained.

I have had, written in the margins of my notebooks, the words CM habits training under the "Catechesis" section of my kids curriculum from the beginning. And we do study habits. But it dawned on me the other day that we could do a better job of making them stick.

This led me to think about a defining moment in our family, some several years ago.
I was watching the Duggars when it first came out, and thinking what strong moral character all of their children seem to have. Pondering this I did some research and discovered their doctrinal connections to Bill Gothard and his Bible teachings. The Duggars study Bill's teachings on character quality and the 49 commands of Christ.
They also apply these principles as the foundation of their homeschool, using an elite Gothard-created curriculum called Advanced training institute. Now I don't know anything about Bill, and this isn't a statement for or against him, but I do think he has a knack for making principles--- biblical principles--- easy to understand. And so does Charlotte Mason.
The Catholic Church, however, has a very academic language in her documents, and therefore her teachings on practical life are not as easily accessible to ordinary people.They are also rare, because she is concerned with expressing the intricacies of theology and doctrine, but leaves practical life very open and free.

Often, lay people have turned to the saints or monastics for ideas about practical life. But practical life is really only explored in the context of discipleship-- and a celibate person cannot often offer to a married person with children the type of discipleship required for truly nurturing the systems of daily family life...So this is an area that is sorely lacking.
Now, we can turn many places for this information, and should! Wherever good, practical information about homemaking is to be found, information that is in line with Church teachings on doctrinal matters, we should be exploring it.

At the time, I studied how the Duggars taught these character qualities. They went through one each month, each day looking for opportunities to use them. They discussed them in family meetings and family devotional times. They discussed them in the context of lessons and historical characters they were meeting. They did service projects for each other relating to these.

Because we are a Charlotte Mason family, we naturally turn to Charlotte Mason herself for ideas about practical life. Her advice here is sound, and useful. And we know that she lived it herself, and was the better for it. "Habit is ten natures," she said... and she is absolutely correct!

When children are young, a complex study is not what they need. They have shortened attention spans and quickly evolving ideas. What we should be giving them are short, delightful snippets of practical information that assists them in laying foundations. Habits!

I am exploring some resources to help do this or help me do this better or more intentionally. In the meantime, I will keep plowing through Laying Down the Rails, a Charlotte Mason habits handbook, and working on character quality per month in conjunction with our catechism lessons, remembering that Charlotte taught three habits which must be paramount over all the others in our children: Obedience, Attention, and Truthfulness.

This is the work of catechesis, though, isn't it? That our lives be transformed.

The Cardinal Bird

The Cardinal Bird by William Davis Gallagher
A day and then a week passed by:
  The redbird hanging from the sill
Sang not; and all were wondering why
It was so still—
When one bright morning, loud and clear,
Its whistle smote my drowsy ear,
Ten times repeated, till the sound
Filled every echoing niche around;
And all things earliest loved by me,—
The bird, the brook, the flower, the tree,—
Came back again, as thus I heard
    The cardinal bird.

When maple orchards towered aloft,
  And spicewood bushes spread below,
Where skies were blue, and winds were soft,
I could but go—
For, opening through a wildering haze,
Appeared my restless childhood's days;
And truant feet and loitering mood
Soon found me in the same old wood
(Illusion's hour but seldom brings
So much the very form of things)
Where first I sought, and saw, and heard
    The cardinal bird.

Then came green meadows, broad and bright,
  Where dandelions, with wealth untold,
Gleamed on the young and eager sight
Like stars of gold;
And on the very meadow's edge,
Beneath the ragged blackberry hedge,
Mid mosses golden, gray and green,
The fresh young buttercups were seen,
And small spring-beauties, sent to be
The heralds of anemone:
All just as when I earliest heard
    The cardinal bird.

Upon the gray old forest's rim
  I snuffed the crab-tree's sweet perfume;
And farther, where the light was dim,
I saw the bloom
Of May-apples, beneath the tent
Of umbrel leaves above them bent;
Where oft was shifting light and shade
The blue-eyed ivy wildly strayed;
And Solomon's-seal, in graceful play,
Swung where the straggling sunlight lay:
The same as when I earliest heard
    The cardinal bird.

And on the slope, above the rill
  That wound among the sugar-trees,
I heard them at their labors still,
The murmuring bees:
Bold foragers! that come and go
Without permit of friend or foe;
In the tall tulip-trees o'erhead
On pollen greedily they fed,
And from low purple phlox, that grew
About my feet, sipped honey-dew:—
How like the scenes when first I heard
    The cardinal bird.

How like!—and yet . . . The spell grows weak:—
  Ah, but I miss the sunny brow—
The sparkling eye—the ruddy cheek!
Where, where are now
The three who then beside me stood
Like sunbeams in the dusky wood?
Alas, I am alone! Since then,
They've trod the weary ways of men:
One on the eve of manhood died;
Two in its flush of power and pride.
Their graves are green, where first we heard
    The cardinal bird.

The redbird, from the window hung,
  Not long my fancies thus beguiled:
Again in maple-groves it sung
Its wood-notes wild;
For, rousing with a tearful eye,
I gave it to the trees and sky!
I missed so much those brothers three,
Who walked youth's flowery ways with me,
I could not, dared not but believe
It too had brothers, that would grieve
Till in old haunts again 't was heard,—
The cardinal bird.

On evolution

Don't miss my husband's post on evolution, it is very helpful for those struggling to comprehend the issue and the connection between faith and reason.
http://stromatais.blogspot.com/2013/01/evolution-and-theory-of-evolution.html

A praying people

I read this article the other day.
At first I was annoyed-- typical "Catholic" drivel about how praying spontaneously is something WE do instead of something GOD does in us. I let my feathers ruffle as I thought about the damage that encouraging people NOT to pray spontaneously together would do.

But then something funny happened-- I started to realize there was some truth to it. It is not so much that it was encouraging people NOT to engage each other to pray spontaneously. Instead, it was encouraging wives to pray formal prayers with their husbands, which would act as gateways to Kingdom living in their homes.

I believe that husbands and wives should pray spontaneously together, and that it should come easily, frequently and naturally. That husbands and wives should take the time to pray spontaneously together every day.

The article challenged me:

This type of intimate, spousal prayer might sound beautiful to women. But to most guys--good, devout guys--not so much. It requires seat-of-the-pants verbal skills that many of them do not have. Not to mention a willingness to, at times, express emotions that are hard for a guy to discuss with his wife in an ordinary conversation, let alone talk to God about with his wife listening in. It's one more example of a woman finding it therapeutic to talk about her problems, and the man finding the same activity to be close to torture.

So wives who want to persuade their husbands to pray with them, but find them recalcitrant, would be well-advised to drop the hand-holding, spill- your- guts- to -God- together idea, and go for something that is more realistic. That is, utilizing the type of prayer that the Catholic tradition excels at. Namely, reciting formal prayers that were written by someone else! Or I should say, reciting formal prayers while investing them with your own will, intentions, feelings, etc.

My husband has been a Christian much longer than I have. And like many, many Christians walking around this earth.... he believes with all his heart but he has never had the experience that Charismatics, both Catholics and Christians, refer to as "baptism in the Holy Spirit."

He has never been "overtaken" by the Holy Spirit. Never spoken in tongues. Never had a word of knowledge for anyone. His experience of the Holy Spirit is much more calm and steady. It's less of a loud, passionate, vibrant love affair and more of a kingdom mentality.  He bows and worships. He trembles and fears. He loves, he obeys, and experiences the goodness of The King. He is moved and moves. His love for God is like the love of a couple who knows and trusts each other because they've been married for years and struggled to communicate for years. It's beautiful, but it is intimate. Above all... it is private.

It's not that he hasn't ASKED for Baptism in the Spirit. It's that he isn't one to do/say something that is contrived of his flesh. And because God Himself has not reached down and CHANGED the way my husband prays, he has not changed it. It's not that he doesn't exhibit the fruits of the Spirit-- he absolutely does. Rather, it's that he doesn't look like/act like a Charismatic Christian in his appearance, and for a long time, I wasn't OK with that.

I've been around Charismatics all my Christian life, and usually praying from a book pains me. I use books as a starting off point to get me going, and it's not uncommon for me to spend an hour at a time "lost" in a prayer-dance with God. I sing random songs. I get moved and say what I'm thinking. I feel inspired and speak God's Word back to Him. I sing, I laugh, I cry, I get on my knees, I stand up. I clap my hands and stomp my feet. I listen. I spend a lot of time listening.

My husband, on the other hand, usually stands very still, closes his eyes, and folds his hands in his lap during prayer. When he leads our family in prayer, it's often in familiar prayers... The Our Father. The Hail Mary. The Apostles Creed. The Glory Be. He likes to pray straight out of his Bible, or straight out of a prayer book. He and I met in Jewish services on post at Ft Jackson, and he and I have often prayed straight out of the Jewish prayer book together.

In the beginning of our marriage, I'd be bored to death and wondering why he wasn't more "spiritual." He, on the other hand, was content. And my kids who didn't always know "what to say" when they talked to God, were participating.

When he became a Catholic, one of the first things my husband really latched onto was the rosary. He prayed the rosary all the time, and was constantly reminding us to do the same. I prayed the rosary quite a bit. But I also prayed the Divine Office (the psalms with the Church) and preferred it.
That's what I prayed with the kids when he was gone.

It's not that I didn't like the rosary- I love it. But I have to be in the right frame of mind to pray the rosary, whereas praying the psalms, I find, puts me in the right frame of  mind. I love a rosary when I'm super frustrated and rocking a grumpy baby in the dark... but if I am standing free before my God, I pray a little differently.

I think that's just me... I'm a very biblically driven person and the biblical language is something that brings me to life and ignites my being. It has been the focal point of my spiritual life from the beginning, and it is how I work out my salvation.

So prayer in my family had always been kind of ... awkward. We know that it is only through daily prayer that we will truly live, so we do it. But it's a learning experience.
In the beginning, I prayed with the kids, and he prayed with me.

My prayer times with the kids were extravagant--- loud, worshipful, expressive.
My prayer times with him were quiet and formal.

Over time, I noticed that my oldest two children responded REALLY well to the prayers at mass. They absolutely love the rhythmic chanting, the eloquent language that speaks to them, and the distinct roles they have: now we stand. now we sit. now we bow. now we cross ourselves.
Their prayers were hung on these pegs and I noticed their prayers began to really improve and become intimate moments with God when that happened.

So I jumped in to praying formal prayers with my kids. We pray the liturgy of the hours together morning and evening, and there is a time for spontaneous prayer included, but because it has a format, it's comforting to all of us. When I did that, I noticed that each of my children developed their own prayer-habits.
My oldest became really invested in eucharistic adoration.... even spending time on her knees facing the nearest tabernacle each day. She is a little evangelist, and quite adept.
My second child is a bit prophetic. He speaks to inanimate objects and commands them. He famously will pray for up to an hour spontaneously and when the mood hits him-- often in the bathroom.  My third is a singer. She truly prays twice when she sings hymns.
And so it goes.

Another thing I noticed is that when  we began to pray formal prayers together as a family, my husband and I began to pray spontaneously together... something we hadn't done much up until then. And it wasn't until we ALL prayed formally together that this began to change. Suddenly, I would mention a difficult situation one of our friends was in, and instead of saying: "remember to pray for her," he would say to me: ""let's pray for her right now. Come here..."

My heart burst. THIS was the prayer life I believe a Christian family should have. And for the first time in my life, instead of it being artificial or me forcing it, it was natural and our natural leader, my husband, was leading it. Beautiful.

So it's been about a year that this change has taken place, and I am quite sure that we are well on the way to a meaningful family prayer life.

Last night, two of our dearest male friends were visiting. They came by to say goodbye as one of them was on the last leg of a trip. We caught up, we shared a glass of wine, we talked politics, and  they wrestled the kids. But then, instead of saying goodbye, as we were winding down,  one of them said: "Let's pray a rosary together before we leave."
Now, these are some of our dearest friends. And we have prayed together many times-- quick bursts of prayer at various times during holidays, during mass together, etc. But never a rosary. Never like this. I was... surprised, to say the least. Grateful, but surprised.

They asked my husband to lead the rosary  and sent my kids off to the family altar to gather rosaries for everyone.

I had a momentary panic.
.... but my kids aren't used to the rosary and will probably act up.
.... but my father in law hates the rosary and will probably be uncomfortable hearing us pray it.
.... but my husband says the rosary weird and will probably lead it funny
.... why can't we just PRAY??
We began. We chose the luminous mysteries (it was Thursday). My husband led us... and
it. was. PERFECT.

To sit in a room with three men, three husbands, three fathers, humbly praying the rosary... perfect.
Each man was holding a child and teaching them how to pray by holding their little fingers around the "right" beads, by explaining what each mystery means and what it revealed to us about God's character....perfect.
Each man reverently bringing his intentions, his family, and (because these men are men of influence in the community and therefore in the world) his nation before God and it was one of the most beautiful things I've ever witnessed. Perfect.

I thank God for formal prayers. I thank God for the rosary---I thank God for the Liturgy of the Hours. I thank God for the Catholic Church who gave us these prayers, through which many parents, spouses, and friends truly become ONE VOICE united in prayer. Through them, progress in prayer is made. Through them charity and humility become the standard.

Through them three men joined powerfully in the Holy Spirit last night to change a devastated nation, starting with each other. Through formal prayers our family and friends have truly become a praying people.
Glory be to God always.

A must-read book by Fr. Elias Friedman, OCD.

This is the complete text of a must - read book for all Catholics entitled "Jewish identity," by Fr. Elias Friedman, OCD. Essentially, it deals with the idea that the Jewish identity was "phased out" as the Gentile presence became more important in the Church, and helps Hebrew Catholics find their place in the Church, which in turn helps the world more clearly understand the mission of the Church, and helps to reconcile painful histories between Jews and Christians.

Hebrew Catholics: Jewish Identity (the book) - Elias Friedman OCD (Complete version)

Charlotte Mason 101

If you're just now hearing about Charlotte Mason, there is a lot of information to sift through.
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!