The Return of Ralene

Greetings fellow homeschooling mamas!

I have returned. If you have been with GYH since the beginning, you'll already know that I was one of the founding members. I had to take my leave about 18 months ago when life got pretty hectic. So, let me catch you up.

Last I was on here, my family and I were living in Hawaii, my husband was in the military, and we were embarking on our Kindergarten year of homeschool.

Life now . . .

My husband had some medical issues and was discharged over a year ago. Acclimating to civilian life has not been easy. We moved back to the states, settling in Kentucky, close to family.

I am still writing fiction, but I also started my own freelance editing business at the beginning of this year. You can find out more about that on my website. I have a few spots available if you're looking! *wink* The extra money allowed me to pay for some classes and to attend a couple of writing conferences in the last year.

And of course, there's homeschool. This year, the girls are in second grade. In the past, I've kind of picked out different curriculum for each subject. With the new business and the adapting to civilian life, though, we decided to go with Sonlight curriculum this year. So far, we are loving it!

For those who don't know, Sonlight is a Christian, literacy-based curriculum, which draws a lot from the Charlotte Mason style of learning. The girls love the books, and we have such fun discussions.

I did choose to keep some of our old choices because the girls were doing so well, So, we continued with Math-U-See, All About Spelling/Readnig, and We Choose Virtues.

We also finally joined a homeschool co-op. It's fairly new, having just started last spring, but it's a great group of local families. I'm even teaching a Creative Writing course to middle and high school students.

I'm sure you're curious about the kids:

Alley Cat is a 7-year-old artist. She would do nothing but draw and write stories all day if we'd let her. She loves the color purple, unicorns, cats, and her favorite subject is history. I think. She's in second grade. We just recently started speech therapy at home with her. We're not quite sure where her speech development delays come from, but it's to the point where she needs the extra help. Since we were unable to afford a professional, I've bought the Super Star Speech, which was written by a speech pathologist for homeschool families. She needs nothing more than for someone to sit with her and draw/color to be happy.


Squealer is a 6-year-old spitfire. She's all giggles and drama. She has such a heart for caring for others--she loves helping me with chores and taking care of her younger brother. While she likes to draw as well, she'd rather sing and dance around. She loves reading, and is reading well above her age. She's in second grade this year, along with her older sister, and keeps up just fine. Our biggest issue with her is reminding her that she is not the mommy. Her favorite color is pink, and she loves dogs and Hello Kitty. I'm not sure she has a favorite subject, but like I said, she loves to read!

Growler is only 3, but he thinks he rules the house. We're working on that. lol ... He's a lot of fun, though. He likes to sit in on school sometimes and "help" teach. He's known his letter since he was 2 and can already count to 20. I've thought about trying to do more pre-school stuff with him, but really can't get him to sit down for longer than 5 minutes. So, I'm content to just let him learn as he goes. Right now, we're working on listening the first time and potty training. His favorite color is green, and he loves video games (thanks, Daddy), especially Mario.

Tuesdays in 2013: Charlotte Mason at Our House!

In 2013, I, Maureen, will be your Tuesday hostess.  I will be sharing with you how I use the Charlotte Mason philosophy and method in my home with my children, aged 9, 6, 3, and 5 months.  I hope that you will learn something new, find something to share, and maybe be inspired to see your children in new ways.

If you've always been curious about the Charlotte Mason method, but you've been too confused or overwhelmed to 'go there', I think you'll find some little jewels for meditation here!

Charlotte Mason was a British educator in the 19^th century who developed a system of education for governesses and mothers to use with their children.  It was also used in day schools, or cottage schools, for the working poor.  Relying heavily on the experience of the natural world and fine literature, Charlotte Mason’s philosophy was a revolution of gentleness in a harsh and dry educational climate.  She favored mothers keeping their children at home and not pushing early academics. 

 

There are many fine books on Charlotte Mason available on Amazon or at your local library.  Please see the reading list at the end of this post.

Charlotte Mason learning is unique.  It is not school-at-home.  The mainstays of a Charlotte Mason education are living books, narration, and short lessons.  Beyond that, there is a lot of variation in how modern home educators adapt the Charlotte Mason philosophy for their own use. 

So, what is a living book?  To begin, a living book is a book written by an individual.  In other words, NOT a textbook.  In edu-speak, that means a living book is a ‘primary source.’  It’s the difference between reading about  The Iliad, versus reading The Iliad.  Workbooks might be available over various subjects, but not required.  I will be sharing with you my family’s favorite living books for various subjects, focusing on some hidden gems I’ve never seen on other homeschool reading lists.  And believe me, I read lots of book lists!

Narration is another important concept in Charlotte Mason education.  And while I consider narration very important, I have never found the method Charlotte Mason originally used to adapt well to my real, modern family.  Nor have I found other modern CM homeschoolers’ methods to work very well.  So I have developed my own form of narration that I call ‘natural narration’ which I will be sharing in a series of posts this spring.

An while short lessons might seem self-explanatory, it can be tricky to apply the concept of short lessons with different children and with different curricula or books.  So I’ll be sharing some creative ways to break up tasks and exercises, especially for boys.      

Other Charlotte Mason topics on which I’ll be extrapolating include ideas for living math, nature study for the lazy mother, art and picture study for the lazy mother, and a Renaissance education on a shoestring.  Please do leave a comment if there is a topic you’re burning to hear about.  I am NOT a Charlotte Mason expert!  But I love Charlotte Mason and I love to see mothers discover how incorporating some CM ideas into their homeschool can make the days- not to mention the subject matter!- more enjoyable, less tedious, and *frankly* easier all around!!!

"Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life."
-Charlotte Mason

I hope you’ll join me on Tuesdays in 2013 here at Growing Your Homeschool!  Here are some quick reads to give you more background on Charlotte Mason and the Charlotte Mason method:

For the Children's Sake: Foundations of Education for Home and School  (By far the easiest to read, most inspiring CM book ever written.  In my humble opinion, obviously!)

Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series (May be a bit heavy reading, but this is the *original* CM 6 book series, by Charlotte herself!)

Charlotte Mason Study Guide  (Out of print, too bad, because this book is great, but definitely available through interlibrary loan.)