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Top Ten - A Charlotte Mason Education

There are so many homeschooling styles out there and sometimes it can be  difficult to tell what is what, and also difficult to choose one. I thought it might be useful to start a series on the main tenants of the different philisophies out there through a list of top ten characteristics.

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Since we had a little workshop on the Charlotte Masson philosophy yesterday in our homeschool monthly meeting, I thought I'd share what I learned.

1. Education is an Atmosphere - the child's environment should not be dumbed down but inspiring. We must nurture the mind.

2. Education is a Life - education should not be separated from everyday life, but rather integrated.

3. Education is a Discipline - Formation of good habits.

4. Short lessons are key - the goal should be nurturing good attention habits and keeping things interesting and fun through a careful varying of the subjects.

5. Use of Living Books and lots of read-alouds.

6. Use of Narration. Read short passages of good literature and have the child retell the content to you in his own words. For more on narration, you can check a previous post of mine on the topic of narration.

7. Use of Copywork for lower grades and dictation for higher grades.

8. Emphasis on memorization of good literature, Bible verses and passages and poetry.

9. Emphasis on the art and nature with picture study, useful handicrafts and nature studies through journaling, drawing and painting.

10. Use of manipulative for Math.

For more Top Ten be sure to Visit OhAmanda.

Comments

oh amanda said…
Interesting! All of that sounds really very interesting! I'd have loved to been schooled like that--lots of read alouds and literature! My fave!
Joy said…
Thanks for sharing this Joelle! Stopping by from the Hip Homeschool Hop!
Kristine said…
Nice succinct description of a CM education. We love following her methods and find great joy for the teacher as well as the student. We have a monthly meeting with homeschool moms as well that is such a blessing and encouragement. Blessings from CA.
Kristine

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