Sunday, September 21, 2008

Charlotte Mason Education



2 other homeschooling mothers (one was Lisawa) and I made a road trip this weekend to attend a Charlotte Mason Workshop given by Catherine Levison. Boy was it one of the BEST days I have had in a LONG LONG time! The fellowship was wonderful, uplifting, and supportive. The workshop really refilled my cup and I am excited at the new possibilities that await around the corner with our homeschooling journey.

I really like this philosophy and do want to implement this into our homeschooling and family life. I purchased all of Catherine's Books and can't wait to finishing reading them all. I have read the introduction to the Literary Education and paged through the book lists. There are a lot of books in there that we haven't read yet. My personal homeschooling goal is to get a lot of those book read over the years to come.

One idea I came away with is to do short lessons with the max. time being 15 min per lesson. If we need to stop at 15 min and come back later to finish something up, that is fine. But the idea is to not sit there for a hour doing the same work; give your children breaks.

Another thought was to not try and implement everything I liked about the workshop starting Monday morning. Do a little at a time, introduce concepts/ideas slowly to avoid burnout or the feeling of not living up to "my" expectations based on what I learned this weekend. I will take it slowly, I am not supermom and can't do the swicheroo 2 days time. This will be a learning process for me and can I tell you I am excited about what lies ahead of us.

I have spent quite a bit of time on 2 sites today: Simply Charlotte Mason and Ambleside Classical. I have been receiving emails (in digest form) from Ambleside's online yahoo group for years, but never really have taken the time to read them. The file section is loaded with goodies, and the website is filled with free things to help implement what you teach to your children.




On Ambleside Classical, I found a page that shares the complete 6 volume set: The Original Homeschooling Series, written by Miss. Mason herself for FREE. Catherine recommend reading book 1, 3, & 4 to gleam the best understanding of her philosophy. So I have not decided to dedicate some time during the week to read these books, or at the min., the sections that are of top interest to me.

As I continue learning I will update my blog with my ah-ha moments and share tidbits of what I learned at the workshop. Do stay tuned! *Ü*

Are there any other CM users or want to be users that visit my blog? I would love to visit your site and gleam from your experience and/or begin this journey with you. *Ü*

6 comments:

Lisa~ said...

I look forward to hear what you have to share on your journey of discovery and implementation....

good thing we don’t live to far from each other! Well.. we do, but it could be worse!

Lisa

Miranda said...

Tina: This is so timely as I just received Catherine Levisons book A Charlotte Mason Education! I read it over the week-end and am re-reading it now at a slower pace. I have had her second book, More Charlotte Mason Education for about 3 years now.
I feel like I have really strayed from the shorter lessons for my odest who is currently in 6th grade. I feel led to, once again, shorten some of her lessons and I am implementing that this week.
I am sure that was one awesome, awesome experience getting to hear her speak!

Rhonda said...

Tina: Mea culpa! That post above is suppose to be me, not my daughter, lol! That is twice in two days that I have accidentally posted when she was logged in-hehehe.
Sorry!

Tina in WA said...

LOL, I thought that name was familar, but I couldn't remember the full name of your blog. I am so glad you made a repost. :)

What a small world indeed. Can't wait to see what you do too. :)

What a great new journey we are all on.

~Tina

Tami, full-time mom; part-time foodie said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog! It's been a long time, and I have so much to catch up on. Unfortunately, my online time is extremely limited this year!

I just love Mrs. Levison's books. I always recommend them for Mom's wanting to check out CM. They are very practical!

Great to "see" you again, my dear sister in Christ,
Tami

amy in peru said...

I wanted to go to this VERY much. Of course, I live WAY too far away now. But if I'm ever back in the US when there's a workshop, I am there!

Thanks for sharing. I thoroughly enjoyed reading a little of your blog.

Amy
Trujillo, Peru
homeschoolblogger.com/amada