pWe’ve all seen those looks: the glazed-over eyes, the dulled expressions, the partly-concealed yawns. Let’s face it, sometimes our children just “check out” during the school day. What is a homeschool parent to do? Charlotte Mason gave great advice for those situations. “When a child grows stupid over a lesson, it is time to put it away. Let him do another lesson as unlike the last as possible, and then go back with freshened wits to his unfinished task” (Home Education, p. 141). So let’s say Joey is working on his math assignment. When he started, he was giving it…/p

pa rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/student-mentally-checks/When Your Student Mentally Checks Out/a originally appeared on a rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.comSimply Charlotte Mason/a./p

pCertainly one of the biggest challenges facing a homeschool mom or dad is trying to teach with little ones underfoot. You might have laid out the best plans in the world, but those plans might never become a reality if you fail to consider the preschoolers in your home. They can be quite distracting to both mom and the other children who are trying to concentrate on their studies! Don’t get me wrong: preschoolers are a great blessing! They just add another dimension to your planning. Here are five great ideas, compiled from several homeschool moms, for homeschooling with preschoolers…/p

pa rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/homeschooling-preschoolers-mix/Homeschooling with Preschoolers in the Mix/a originally appeared on a rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.comSimply Charlotte Mason/a./p

pNear the end of Jane Austen’s classic book, Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy makes a startling statement that sums up why he struggled so much in winning Elizabeth Bennet’s regard. It is startling because he puts his finger on a practice that many parents might inadvertently be doing today. “I was given good principles,” Darcy confessed, “but left to follow them in pride and conceit.” Especially in the homeschooling atmosphere of today—with its resurgent (and commendable) emphasis on noble ideals, high thinking, and excellence—we need to be careful we don’t make the same mistake Darcy’s parents did. High thinking is…/p

pa rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/not-pride-prejudice/Not Pride and Prejudice/a originally appeared on a rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.comSimply Charlotte Mason/a./p

pI recently watched a rehearsal for a folk dancing group. There were only five ladies on the floor, but the dances were quite involved. Each lady held half of a hula hoop in an arch over her head as they all stepped in time to a lulling waltz, forming intricate designs that gently changed into other intricate designs. My companion told me that in performance the dancers would hold beautiful arches of flowers; the hula hoops were only for practice. I could almost picture the lovely colors and fluttering ribbons that they would take with them into the competition. One…/p

pa rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/starting-charlotte-mason-homeschooling-high-school/Starting Charlotte Mason Homeschooling in High School/a originally appeared on a rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.comSimply Charlotte Mason/a./p

pOf all of the questions we received on homeschooling through high school with the Charlotte Mason Method, the area that raised the most concerns, by far, was composition. I find that fact interesting . . . and a bit ironic. Think about it. Most of us were given the traditional and typical separate classes focused on lessons in composition from first grade through twelfth grade. And most of us feel unqualified or ill prepared to guide our children to write well. Somewhere that twelve-year, isolated approach to writing failed us. Happily, Charlotte Mason’s approach to composition is quite different. Yet…/p

pa rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/narration-composition-high-school-years/Narration and Composition in the High School Years/a originally appeared on a rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.comSimply Charlotte Mason/a./p

p(We asked Karen Andreola to share some of her thoughts and experiences with Charlotte Mason graduates and how they get on in college and in life. I feel certain you’ll enjoy what she has to say.) A couple summers ago my daughter and son-in-law were between churches. They moved an hour from where they used to live. Visiting new churches carries with it a certain apprehension. On one of those visiting-Sundays, Sophia was standing at the back of the sanctuary holding her one-year-old, trying to keep her quiet while listening to the sermon. The baby was fussy. It was normally…/p

pa rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/generation-charlotte-mason-kids/A Generation of Charlotte Mason Kids/a originally appeared on a rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.comSimply Charlotte Mason/a./p

pLast week a friend recommended a book. After she told me about it, I looked it up online and read the summary and the publisher’s description. They looked good. From everything so far, it seemed to be a great book. But I wanted to do one more thing before buying in: read some reviews from real people who had experience with it firsthand. We depend on reviews a lot. And some of you have asked for firsthand reviews about Charlotte Mason homeschooling through high school. You want to hear from some CM graduates about what their experiences were like in…/p

pa rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/charlotte-mason-homeschooling-prepares-student-college-life/How Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Prepares a Student for College and Life/a originally appeared on a rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.comSimply Charlotte Mason/a./p

pWhen my husband John has a big job to do around the house, he doesn’t just pull out a hammer and start banging away, expecting it to do everything. He has a whole five-gallon bucket full of carefully selected and arranged tools that he keeps near at hand (and more in his tool cart in the garage). He knows that a large job becomes more manageable with a variety of tools. From all of those options he can select the tool that will work best for each aspect of the task. The same thing is true for homeschooling through high…/p

pa rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/challenging-courses-dual-enrollment/Challenging Courses and Dual Enrollment/a originally appeared on a rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.comSimply Charlotte Mason/a./p

pMy mother makes the best potato salad. Every time we have a family cookout, she politely asks what she can bring, knowing full well what the answer will be. “You bring the potato salad, please, Mom.” But if you ask her for the recipe, she will hesitate. It’s not that she doesn’t want to share that information; it’s that she would have to think long and hard about what exactly she does to create that delicious dish. Making potato salad is so natural to her at this point, that it takes effort to document every step of the process and…/p

pa rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/courses-credits-grades-transcripts/Courses, Credits, Grades, and Transcripts/a originally appeared on a rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.comSimply Charlotte Mason/a./p

pAs homeschoolers, educating a child through the high school years is going to look different from a typical high school classroom situation. Most high schools are concerned with one thing: getting the course work done. But a Charlotte Mason-style home school looks at the whole person and has a broader goal. We looked last time at developing the person through the curriculum—spreading a feast of ideas through a wide variety of subjects. Today, as we continue to answer your questions on high school, let’s talk a bit about how to develop the person through the schedule. Yes, we want our…/p

pa rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.com/blog/scheduling-high-schooler-mix/Scheduling with a High Schooler in the Mix/a originally appeared on a rel=nofollow href=https://simplycharlottemason.comSimply Charlotte Mason/a./p