A Charlotte Mason Education -
The Charlotte Mason MonthlyA Free E-Mail Newsletter
Circulation: 6,000+
ISSN: 1527-1277
Vol. 2, No. 12 -- October 2001
This once-a-month newsletter is distributed in conjunction with:
A Charlotte Mason Education and
A Frugal, Simple Life *************************************************
Copyright (C) 2001
Deborah Taylor-Hough. All rights reserved.
*************************************************
Feel free to forward the CM-Monthly Email Newsletter in its entirety to others who might be interested in its subject matter. To subscribe, send an email containing ANY message to:
subscribe-cm-monthly@ds.xc.org*************************************
IN THIS ISSUE:-- "Dear Readers"
-- Charlotte Mason Quote-able
-- Book Selection (Part One)
-- The Value of Collections
-- Letters to the Editor / Readers' Tips
-- Assorted Information (archives, retrieving back issues, etc.)
*****************************************
Dear Readers ...Would you like to share with others about how you're applying Charlotte Mason methods in your home/school? I'd like to start including 'A Day in the Life of Our Charlotte Mason Home/School' submitted by CM-Monthly readers in upcoming issues of this ezine. Submissions need to be relatively short (400 - 600 words) and may be edited for space and content requirements. To submit your description of a day in your home, send an email to:
DSimple@aol.com (Subject line: "CM Days"). Classroom teachers are encouraged to share how they're applying CM's methods in their school, as well.
On a different note, we're still receiving subscription requests for the Charlotte Mason Monthly at the old egroups/yahoogroups subscribing address. If you have a link to the CM-Monthly on your website, could you please be sure to update the information so your visitors don't miss a single issue of the newsletter? The current subscribing address is:
subscribe-cm-monthly@ds.xc.orgIf you don't have subscription information for the Charlotte Mason Monthly listed on your education related website, feel free to add it -- the more the merrier. Thanks for spreading the word! :-)
Also, you're welcome to link to our newest Charlotte Mason web-resource:
http://sites.silaspartners.com/cmason/Simply Yours,
Debi
(Deborah Taylor-Hough)
DSimple@aol.comEditor, CM-Monthly Email Newsletter
Author of "Frozen Assets: How to Cook for a Day and Eat for a Month" and the newly released book
A Simple Choice: A Practical Guide to Saving Your Time, Money and Sanity (Champion Press)
*****************************************
CHARLOTTE MASON QUOTE-ABLE"(The child) needs knowledge as much as he needs bread and milk; his appetite for knowledge is as healthy as his appetite for his dinner; and an abundant regular supply at short intervals of various knowledge is a constitutional necessity for the growing youth as well as for the curious child."
--Charlotte Mason, "A Philosophy of Education," (Vol. 6)
From
The Original Homeschooling Series (six volume set)
******************************************
BOOK SELECTION -- Part OneCopyright 2001 Catherine Levison
Used with permission. All rights reserved.
Home schoolers across the country have adopted a "real life" view of education because they have seen it work. Real experiences have a way of teaching that reaches past reading about experiences in a book.
For example, I've tried to learn the metric system from math books for most of my life. Basically this has resulted in my having a hazy, at best, acquaintance with the subject. When I travel to Canada I'm living the metric system every time I ask directions, drive to my destination, or purchase grocery items. What a contrast -- my learning rate jumps immediately and I have true retention.
Home schoolers have also noticed the value of "real" books, sometimes called whole books and living books. An entire book on one subject affords far more retention than a short paragraph in a textbook. Living books have facts in them just like any textbook would but they also feature people living through ocean exploration, wars, scientific discoveries, etc. When children read about people's lives in a book they tend to care and become connected, then they hang on to the facts far better than they do when they read boring, lifeless entries in other types of books.
Many people come to a point in their understanding of the Charlotte Mason method where they realize that most of her tips are actually working for them. They've learned, applied and conquered the primary techniques of art appreciation, narration and they could actually define a whole or a living book with the best of them.
They've started collecting books, and everything seems to be going well when universally they run into a couple of problems, one of which is, "I can't find the books Charlotte recommends," or "I can't find the books that fit my plan."
Let's take the subject of history because when one first begins to find living books they tend to actually start a collection of American history books without intending to do so. Why? Because of the abundance of living books on United States history -- they are far easier to locate than living books on Europe, Canada, South America or Australia. Considering the brief time period of United States history (even including discovery, colonization and the revolt), there sure are a lot of books available on this relatively young country.
One immediate solution in the area of history might be to read biographies of people who travel to other countries for nearly any purpose or perhaps missionaries (a particularly helpful idea for the more obscure countries). In addition, developing a pen pal relationship through the Internet can result in a recommended reading list of great books about that country. Doing this myself has resulted in the ability to cover European history using living books. Many of my favorite books were shipped to me from my English pen pal. She was able to locate many of the books from my wish list. When I corresponded with folks in Australia I asked about their history and the books that would best describe their country.
Your need to find appropriate books can possibly be solved by using book lists. We have a great many of these lists available to us -- some are geared to the Charlotte Mason parent and some are not. One often recommend book list is "Let the Authors Speak" by Carolyn Hatcher, and I've heard good things about "Books Children Love" by Elizabeth Wilson. Both are easily obtained through most home school catalogs. Currently, people are very excited about "All Through the Ages" by Christine Miller. She too, has labored long and hard to provide a well-organized list of history books of a literary quality. Her address is 1015-M S. Taft Hill Rd. #263, Ft. Collins, CO 80521.
There are lists available on the Charlotte Mason web sites too. I've added a book list in the appendix of More Charlotte Mason Education which includes Charlotte's, mine and hundreds of CM enthusiasts' recommendations, from around the world, that I think you'll find helpful. I also have a brand new book on the market, "A Literary Education," that has a fairly large section of recommended history books.
A similar solution would be the educational or home school supply catalogs. Many of the catalogs serve as a recommended reading list and you know right where you can get the book. I recommend finding one or two of these that you can really trust. One of my personal favorites is Lifetime Books and Gifts. They carry one of the largest quality inventories in the United States and the owners are home educators. You can call them for a catalog at 800-377-0390. Once you become familiar with the convictions, motives and literary taste of any given catalog you may be able to order sight unseen with relative confidence.
Some of my classic book sets I collect have lists of all the other books they publish in that set. I've found those to be great suggested reading lists. If you don't already own a set, look at book stores and libraries.
SUBMITTED BY: Catherine Levison --Catherine is a home schooling parent with over a decade of experience. She's the mother of five children, a grandmother, and the author of the popular book, "A Charlotte Mason Education: A How-To Manual," the sequel, "More Charlotte Mason Education" and the newly released book, "A Literary Education" (Champion Press, 2001). Catherine resides with her family in the Seattle/Tacoma area. She's also a regular contributor to the
Bright-Kids ezine.
******************************************
THE VALUE OF COLLECTIONS Copyright 2001
Cheri BywaterUsed with permission. All rights reserved.
Most families have a large collection of ballpoint pens. Take a handful of assorted pens and count the number of ways they click "on." Now imagine the high level, problem-solving challenge this presents for a two-year-old that wants to scribble on a notepad. She has her paper and a collection of pens and in the process of figuring out how they work she is internalizing a lot of knowledge about mechanics, levers and cause and effect.
All mothers know that children are born first-rate scientists. They naturally explore where no one has gone before (under the fridge, couch cushions, etc.). Children also love concrete activity. For instance; experimenting, using art materials, building with wood and sand, constructive work and play, and creating from their own designs are activities that children are drawn to. Take wood and nails for example. A three-year-old pounds nail after nail into a stump. A six-year-old builds crude looking toys. A ten-year-old can make useable items they invent themselves. A fourteen-year-old can make nice looking pieces for the home.
Along this journey they have collected many things. Intangibles -- like skills, knowledge and experience. Tangibles -- like tools, plans, and products. Any interest a child has from scribbling to computer programming will present an opportunity to develop valuable collections. It is not the actual collection that is so valuable, although some, like coins may be. It's the process that builds learning and thinking skills. The one doing the collecting is the one internalizing and discovering.
It goes against my grain to stockpile things. I am a serious de-junker. Then I came face to face with a child that collects everything from rocks to brochures. I took a fresh look and decided to change my way of thinking. Nature collections for instance will quickly overtake a house. A nature museum on the other hand is defined. In our home it's a dedicated bookshelf and bulletin board. If the collection outgrows the space, it needs to be rotated, weeded out and reorganized.
But the process of collecting these treasures has been a joy. The children look things up in identification books, a collection in itself. They make little labels, design displays and containers. Objects that can't be taken home, like muskrats, are drawn into nature notebooks. My house isn't a disaster because I lightened up; we are all the more enriched for it.
Every academic area will offer a potential collection but it doesn't have to be stuff. Poems, verses, and facts committed to memory are a collection. Experiences and skills can also be a collection. Nor do all collections necessarily come from a child's interests.
I have a list of goals and absolute things I want my children to leave my home with. One such thing is an appreciation for fine art, and an understanding of art as a window into a culture. I collect art prints from the National Gallery of Art and have Picture Talks with the children. The children take a few minutes to examine a picture and then I turn it over and they tell me about it. They are creating a picture in their minds of the art. These pictures in their minds are a collection. Whenever they see the 100 or so fine works we have " studied" they will be familiar friends.
Collections lead to reading and recording activities. A child will be hungry to read about the things that interest them. Writing activities will spring from the wealth of information they are collecting. Here is another example from our family. My daughters currently love horses, cats and whales. They devour non-fiction books on their animal friends. We get Cat Fancy magazine in the mail and study it carefully. They set up a pet doctor clinic in their room, which they have carefully made signs and medical kits for. One of my daughters organizes all of her whale-related papers in a file and has adopted a whale in the Puget Sound. That of course leads to important discussions about geography.
Collections also build arithmetic skills. Both the tangible and intangible require classifying, categorizing, sorting, ordering, and labeling. Math itself can lead to a valuable collection. My engineer husband has a wide variety of rulers, templates, calculators, scales and other paraphernalia of his profession.
A child's collections can be a thorn in mom's side. Just remember, from thorns come roses. And from what may seem like a waste of time at first glance could be the very thing that catapults your child into an in-depth life-long learning project. As we nurture their interests in a reasonable way (I'm not suggesting pandering to a child's every whim) some will last a short time, they will get what they need and move on. A few interests though, will be for life and these are the one's that can develop into the quality of skills and expertise that will serve them throughout life.
The National Gallery of Art has quality 11"x14" print reproductions for $3.00 each. When you go to their website at
www.nga.gov, click on "Gallery Shop" and then go to "Reproduction Search". The artists are organized by last name.
SUBMITTED BY: Cheri Bywater--Cheri is the editor of the Olympia Christian Homeschool Group's newsletter (Olympia, Washington).
******************************************
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR / READERS' TIPS(We'd love to have CM-Monthly readers share any helpful tips or creative ideas for using Charlotte Mason's methods and ideas!)
Send submission to Debi at:
DSimple@aol.com (subject line: "CM Tips")
Re: LibrariesI came from a large city with a wonderful library! Anything I wanted, they usually had, or very close to it. Then we moved to a small town where the library is rarely used. Inter-library loan is not promoted nor do the librarians act like it's worth their time. I was told if they had to get a book from a great distance I would be charged(!), and that many times I should just go out and buy it. I was also told how hard inter-library loan is for home schoolers because "you just never know when the book would come in." Granted, this is harsh, but it's true. So I now pay $70 a year to use a library 40 miles away from us, but that price still saves me tons of money I would have spent purchasing books. So to end on a good note, if you have a bad library, keep looking. Don't give up!
--Sue, Southern Idaho
Re: Thanks for the websiteI am a home schooling mom who has found herself in a desperate situation with her two sons. I found out quickly that the workbook approach was not going to work! But Charlotte Mason seems to be where God is leading me and I thank Him and you for such a helpful web-site! God Bless You!
--Lynn W.
******************************************
FAMILY "TWADDLE-FREE" READING LISTRecommended books for children and families
Go to:
http://members.aol.com/BeeME1/bookstore.html******************************************
CM-MONTHLY ARCHIVESTo receive a listing of back issues with table of contents and instructions for retrieving via email, send ANY message TO:
cm-monthly-issues@xc.org*********************************************
SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATIONTo subscribe to this free newsletter, send a blank e-mail message to:
subscribe-cm-monthly@ds.xc.orgPlease feel free to forward this newsletter to anyone you think might be interested. This is a private mailing list which isn't sold or shared with anyone else.
To unsubscribe, send a blank email to:
unsubscribe-cm-monthly@ds.xc.org***************************************
A special thanks to Larry Wilson, Gary Foreman and The Dollar Stretcher family of Web-resources for making this mailing list possible!
www.stretcher.com***************************************
