Language Arts and Some Planning

Our last two meetings have been wonderful.  There has been a hint of language arts in both.  I am always cautious in this area because like many new parents introduced to Charlotte Mason, I too, question the method in the beginning.  If you haven't read her original works or feel you don't fully understand the whys to such a simple, gentle and slow approach; I highly recommend reading Simply Charlotte Mason's Hearing and Reading, Telling and Writing: A Charlotte Mason Language Arts Handbook.  It breaks down age groups and gives you many quotes from the original volumes.  We were able to share how we do language arts in our home.  It is always helpful to hear why something works in one home and not another.  I'm constantly reminded that one of the joys of home schooling is being able to take the best and cater to your family. 

This was a nice transition into discussing one of the key points made in the first chapter of When Children Love to Learn.  Mrs. Schaeffer Macaulay describes how wanting of Charlotte Mason methods and ideas does not mean recreating a Victorian school house.  How the core of her philosophies are so solid that they can be taken and used in our modern day and within the context of our own cultures.  This is such a sigh of relief because while in my home we enjoy the older books and classics we also have come to appreciate new works of literature.  They might not be considered old but I'm sure that many will be considered must reads in the future.

Last, we began watching and discussing something that I have found almost essential in our Charlotte Mason education: planning.  We were only able to watch step one of the Planning Your Charlotte Mason Education DVD, but it was a nice way to begin the thinking process about our home schooling.  As we've mentioned before in our group; Charlotte Mason is a gentle and natural approach to education, however, there is plenty of structure needed to accomplish an abudantly rich education.