"Mom, look!" She stoops beside a rotting log, her voice loud with excitement. "Look at the way this fungus is growing — it's shaped just like a rose!" We stop in our tracks, all four of us. Even the littlest one bends low to look close. I've been asked before just how it is … Continue reading Charlotte Mason and Richard Louv: Nature Study and the “Powers of Observation” (Thoughts on “Home Education”)
Christmas Eve. Voices echoed angelic songs in darkness lit by hundreds of tiny flames that flickered like stars. I held my candle carefully as I sang the miracle and mystery of a Saviour come to earth. Heaven stooping low. The glorious beauty of ancient prophecy fulfilled. My children, beside me, looked on with wonder-filled eyes. … Continue reading Charlotte Mason Inspired: Step-by-Step Christmas Hymn Study
Some call it their Morning Basket; others call it Morning Time; and still others call it Poetry Tea Time. Whatever you choose to call it, one of the most special things you can do with your children is immerse yourselves in rich and beautiful literature. I know, I'm starting to sound like a broken record. But … Continue reading Charlotte Mason Inspired: Beautiful Collections of Poems and Short Stories for Poetry Tea Time
Every morning, my girls and I sit down together and read stories. Like any home educator, there's usually a huge pile of seasonal literature on hold for me at the library (and an equally huge amount of late fines that I need to pay!). With each new season that passes, we discover more amazing books … Continue reading 100+ Autumn-Themed Storybooks to Read to Your Child
Last Tuesday was curriculum share night at our homeschool parent support group. It's basically adult show-and-tell, and it's the best thing ever. I learn more from these nights—from thirty women taking two minutes each to talk about their favourite teaching tools—than from any conference or workshop or talk that I have ever attended. I always … Continue reading A Charlotte Mason Inspired Homeschool Curriculum Switch Up: Math, Grammar, Art and More
"Children should have the joy of living in far lands, in other persons, in other times - a delightful double existence; and this joy they will find, for the most part, in their story books. Their lessons, too, history and geography, should cultivate their conceptive powers. If the children do not live in the times … Continue reading Modern History: A Living Book List
Charlotte Mason, classical, unschooling, school-at-home, Montessori, Waldorf, Thomas Jefferson education—if you are new to home education, it won't take you long to discover that there are a myriad of homeschooling philosophies. There are tests to determine where you fit and there are workshops, curriculum and conferences to cater to each method. But what if you don't … Continue reading What is Eclectic Homeschooling?
Midnight had come and gone. We stumbled through the darkness, our flashlights barely illuminating the trail through the woods. The cold seeped through my winter coat and into my bones. Ahead of us, a long net stretched down the path and into the blackness. “We got one!” someone cried. Carefully, he untangled the little bird … Continue reading The Importance of Nature Study
