Monthly Archives: August 2010

Charlotte Mason was a Christian educator from Victorian Era England. When I first read about her in homeschooling magazines and books, I immediately decided that I wanted to adopt many of her ideas.  So much of what she recommends seems to be simply good old fashioned common sense that has been forgotten and would be shunned in many educational circles today.  I majored in Child Development while I attended college,  and what I acquired was a far cry from Charlotte Mason philosophy.

For Charlotte Mason, education was more to do with setting an atmosphere and a healthy lifestyle for your child than about workbooks and fact memorization.  Yet, her approach was not ” child centered”  in the  modern sense that eliminates instruction, discipline and good habits. She spoke of providing a wholesome and stimulating home environment  that encouraged learning while still allowing time for the carefree happy days of childhood.  Charlotte Mason would probably love the saying that  “homeschooling is a lifestyle.”  I thought the following list of Charlotte Mason ” do’s & dont’s” might be helpful to those who are just getting to know Charlotte Mason philosophy.  As I read the list, I think so much of what she taught is probably the way many of our forefathers were taught.  Her ideas may seem old-fashioned but I wouln’t be surprised if I found out that many of our grandmothers would have done the same.

~Charlotte did not recommend using textbooks but encouraged the use of whole books. She called them “Living books”

~Charlotte believed that asking children to narrate back what they have learned or read is the best way to acquire knowledge and strengthen comprehension.

~No homework is recommended by Miss Mason, instead she believes the evenings should be      filled with cozy evenings reading and spending time with family.

~Charlotte recommended short lessons and plenty of afternoon leisure. By leisure she would mean, healthy physical activity out doors, chores, nature journaling, cooking and other worthy tasks.  Again, this sounds like a learning lifestyle to me.  Do we actually only homeschool 180 days a year?

~Make plenty of time for the arts and humanities:  music, art, poetry, music appreciation etc.

~proper education imparts and teaches good habits. Charlotte reminds us that a parent who takes the time to pass on good habits to their children secures smooth and easy days. She suggests working on one habit at a time.

~For handwriting Miss Mason recommends good old fashioned copy-work practice.  We have been doing this for years and my boys have lovely penmanship.  Our Grandma has volunteered for this subject and she gives lots of praise and encouragement as she simply sits and does her own copywork along side her grandchildren.  I like to purchase nice journals especially for copywork lessons.

~Geography-Charlotte advocated learning about people in their surroundings, not just dry facts about locations, exports, and weather descriptions. Charlotte planned for a ten-minute map drill session once per week.

~Nature Studies & Nature Journals- Charlotte took her students on the original “field trips” by spending one afternoon per week outside in the fields, beaches or woods. Children are told to observe nature and enter their observations in their individual nature notebooks. Their entries can include pencil sketches, descriptions, watercolor paintings, or chalk drawings. Instruct children to draw what they see, not what they think something should look like. Be sure they label each entry with its name, location, and date observed. Field guides can help in identifying the plants and animal found in nature. Nature study lays the foundation on which future science lessons will build.

Postpone  formal Grammar Lessons-Charlotte recommended postponing the formal study of grammar until the child reached the age of ten. Consistent practice in narration, dictation, and copywork lays the foundation for grammar study.

Bible Study-Children should read or have the Bible read to them each day.  They should work on memorizing large portions of scripture.

Recitation- Occasionally assign a poem or a passage from a classic book to be memorized and recited. Charlotte believed that “all children have it in them to recite; it is an imprisoned gift waiting to be delivered” (Home Education, p. 223).

Handicrafts & Life-skills

• Beading

• Auto mechanics
• Baking
• Canning
• Changing a car tire
• Changing a lightbulb
• Checking the car’s oil
• Cleaning: mirrors, sinks, toilets, tubs and showers, baseboards
• Clearing the table
• Cooking
• CPR
• Driving a car
• Drying: clothes, dishes
• Dusting
• Electrical wiring
• Emptying trash
• First Aid
• Folding: clothes, towels, sheets                     
• Mopping
• Mowing the lawn
• Organizing: closets, cupboards, sheds, attics
• Painting a room
• Plumbing
• Raking leaves
• Setting the table
• Sweeping the floor
• Vacuuming
• Vegetable gardening
• Wallpapering
• Washing: clothes, dishes, windows, car
• Welding

• Computer skills
• Keyboarding/Typing
• Tracking personal finances

• Calligraphy
• Carving
• Ceramics
• Chalk drawing
• Charcoal sketching
• Clay sculpturing
• Crocheting
• Cross-stitching                                         
• Embroidery
• Finger painting
• Flower arranging
• Gardening
• Iron sculpturing
• Kiting
• Knitting
• Latch-hooking
• Leather tooling
• Loom weaving
• Macrame
• Oil painting
• Pencil sketching
• Photography
• Picture framing
• Pottery
• Quilting
• Robotics
• Rubber stamping
• Scrapbooking
• Scroll sawing
• Sewing
• Spinning Fibers
• Spool Knitting
• Videography
• Water Color Painting
• Weaving
• Whittling
• Woodworking          

Better than land or gold or trade
Are a high ideal and a purpose true;
Better than all of the wealth we’ve made
Is the work for others that now we do.
For Rome grew rich and she turned to song
And danced to music and drank her wine,
But she sapped the strength of her fibres strong
And a gilded shroud was her splendor fine.

The Rome of old with its wealth and wine
Was the handiwork of a sturdy race;
They builded well and they made it fine
And they dreamed of it as their children’s place.
They thought the joys they had won to give,
And which seemed so certain and fixed and sure,
To the end of time in the world would live
And the Rome they’d fashioned would long endure.  

They passed to their children the hoarded gold,
Their marble halls and their fertile fields!
But not the spirit of Rome of old,
Nor the Roman courage that never yields.
They left them the wealth that their hands had won,
But they failed to leave them a purpose true.
They left them thinking life’s work all done,
And Rome went down and was lost to view.

We must guard ourselves lest we follow Rome.
We must leave our children the finer things.
We must teach them love of the spot called home
And the lasting joy that a purpose brings.
For vain are our Flag and our battles won,
And vain are our lands and our stores of gold,
If our children feel that life’s work is done.
We must give them a high ideal to hold.

"Waiting Room" Rochfort

Lord, make me tolerant and wise;

Incline my ears to hear him through;
Let him not stand with downcast eyes,
Fearing to trust me and be true.
Instruct me so that I may know
The way my son and I should go.

When he shall err, as once did I,
Or boyhood folly bids him stray,
Let me not into anger fly
And drive the good in him away.
Teach me to win his trust, that he
Shall keep no secret hid from me.

Lord, strengthen me that I may be .
A fit example for my son.
Grant he may never hear or see
A shameful deed that I have done.
However sorely I am tried,
Let me not undermine his pride.

In spite of years and temples gray,
Still let my spirit beat with joy;
Teach me to share in all his play
And be a comrade with my boy.
Wherever we may chance to be,
Let him find happiness with me.

Lord, as his father, now I pray
For manhood’s strength and counsel wise;
Let me deal justly, day by day,
In all that fatherhood implies.
To be his father, keep me fit;
Let me not play the hypocrite!

~Edgar Albert Guest

I’ve been riding my recumbent exercise bike to  the “How Then Shall We Live” DVD series by Francis Shaeffer. It’s a wonderful feeling to to exercise your body and brain together….sadly I’ve neglected both over the years. One of the perks of homeschooling though,  is that I get to have a second chance at an education. I am highly motivated this time around because I want to mentor my children.  I figure as long as I stay a week ahead it will all work out. ; )

I am thoroughly enjoying Francis Schaeffer’s  series on the rise and decline of Western thought and culture. It  surveys history—from the Roman Empire through the 20th century—and offers biblical answers to modern problems. Francis Shaeffer comes across slightly highfalutin and somewhat eccentric , but what he expresses is rich and worthy of taking note and learning.   He’s basically helping to reinforce or introduce a Christian worldview while discussing the history of western civilization. I’m grateful to Francis Shaeffer for leaving this series for us all and am eager to learn what I can about this subject. Although this series is excellent, I think I’m going to wait until my boys are in highschool before adding it to their lesson plans.  ~Anne

*People have presuppositions, and they will live more consistently on the basis of these presuppositions than even they themselves may realize. By presuppositions we mean the basic way an individual looks at life, his basic world-view, the grid through which he sees the world. Presuppositions rest upon that which a person considers to be the truth of what exists. People’s presuppositions lay a grid for all they bring forth into the external world. Their presuppositions also provide the basis for their values and therefore the basis for their decisions.
(Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live?, Ch. 1)

When all is done, when all the alternatives have been explored, “not many men are in the room” — that is, although world-views have many variations, there are not many basic world-views or basic presuppositions.
(Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live?, Ch. 1)

No totalitarian authority nor authoritarian state can tolerate those who have an absolute by which to judge that state and its actions. The Christians had that absolute in God’s revelation. Because the Christians had an absolute, universal standard by which to judge not only personal morals but the state, they were counted as enemies of totalitarian Rome and were thrown to the beasts.
(Francis A. Schaeffer, How Should We Then Live?, Ch. 1)

It is important that the Bible sets forth true knowledge about mankind. The biblical teaching gives meaning to all particulars, but this is especially so in regard to that particular which is the most important to man, namely, the individual himself or herself. It gives a reason for the individual being great. The ironic fact here is that humanism, which began with Man’s being central, eventually had no real meaning for people. On the other hand, if one begins with the Bible’s position that a person is created by God and created in the image of God, there is a basis for that person’s dignity. People, the Bible teaches, are made in the image of God — they are nonprogrammed. Each is thus Man with dignity.

The Christian is the real radical of our generation, for he stands against the monolithic, modern concept of truth as relative. But too often, instead of being the radical, standing against the shifting sands of relativism, he subsides into merely maintaining the status quo. If it is true that evil is evil, that God hates it to the point of the cross, and that there is a moral law fixed in what God is in Himself, then Christians should be the first into the field against what is wrong.

(Be sure to stop the music before beginning this video clip)

The Reader - Fragonard

“Now” – said a good book unto me -
“Open my pages and you shall see
Jewels of wisdom and treasures fine,
Gold and silver in every line,
And you may claim them if you but will
Open my pages and take your fill.

“Open my pages and run them o’er,
Take what you choose of my golden store.
Be you greedy, I shall not care -
All that you seize I shall gladly spare;
There is never a lock on my treasure doors,
Come – here are my jewels, make them yours!

“I am just a book on your mantel shelf,
But I can be part of your living self;
If only you’ll travel my pages through,
Then I will travel the world with you.
As two wines blended make better wine,
Blend your mind with these truths of mine.

“I’ll make you fitter to talk with men,
I’ll touch with silver the lines you pen,
I’ll lead you nearer the truth you seek,
I’ll strengthen you when your faith grows weak -
This place on your shelf is a prison cell,
Let me come into your mind to dwell!”

I thought this you tube clip was interesting and a good one to show to your doubting friends and relatives.  Be sure to turn the site music down or you will have 2 sets of music playing. Enjoy~Anne

This recipe from The Four Ingredient Cookbook caught my attention. I’m always on the lookout for super easy recipes that I can whip up without too many ingredients.  This one sounded refreshing for a summertime dessert and not too much work for a tired homeschool mom.

1 Box strawberry Jello

2/3 cup boiling water and 2 cups ice cubes

1 carton Cool Whip

1 cup sliced strawberries

Dissolve Jello in boiling water.  Add 2 c. ice cubes.  After the ice is melted,  blend in Cool Whip until smooth.  Fold in strawberries.  Chill until mixture  is quite thick and  will mound.  Spoon into graham cracker crust.  Decorate with strawberry slices if desired.  Chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

My Cousin passed on today and I feel so sad…….she was still young in my opinion.  It seems the older I get though,  the definition of  “old”  changes.  She was in her middle 50′s.  We were not close, she lived 3000 miles from me, but I have fond memories of her from my childhood.  She was beautiful and was always kind to me.  We talked very rarely and sometimes exchanged Christmas Cards.  I was going to call her “one of these days” and share the Lord with her.  I don’t know if she knew the Lord.  I hope she did.  Now she is gone and I feel regretful. I want to call all of my relatives and tell them about Jesus.  I want to call all of my old friends and warn them that they are going to meet their maker one day…….one day maybe sooner than they think.   My pastor told me that if you are more concerned with someone’s soul than they are with their own soul,  then they will probably not listen to you.  I tried to share the Lord with my 89 year old neighbor.  I was subtle and gentle.  I told her I’d pray for her.  I asked her if she believed in the Lord.  She told me that she did not want me to talk about any religion with her anymore. I told her I would not.  My boys and I continue to  pray for her.  When I bring her some cookies or soup, I just pray that somehow it will minister to her and soften her hard heart.  How can you be 89 years old and not think about your own soul?  I thought about mine when I was 10.  I would recite the Lord’s prayer and Psalm 23, and “Now I lay me down to sleep”.  I’d ask God for help and I’d pray for everyone I knew.  I didn’t understand the gospel…..but I sought the Lord.  I don’t remember a time in my life when I did not think about my own soul.  Now though,  I’m thinking about my relatives….. and friends….and neighbors.  Please Lord help me to be a light to them.  Help me to make time in my day for them. Forgive me Lord,  for not caring enough about where they will spend eternity.  I’m sorry Lord, I will try to speak of your love and forgiveness each day to someone.  Lord help them to care about their own souls.  Please Lord have mercy upon us knowing that our lives are but a vapor…and that we are just dust. Amen

Belief in Jesus: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). “And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

God’s love: “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8) “God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace have ye been saved).” (Ephesians 2:4-5) “When the kindness of God our Saviour, and his love toward man, appeared …” (Titus 3:4)

Sin separates mankind from God: “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” (Romans 5:12) God gives eternal life because Jesus Christ atoned for our sin: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23)

Saved (from sin) by asking Him for forgiveness just as we forgive others: “For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6:14-15)

Confession and believing: “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” — “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” (Romans 10:9-10) “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)