“Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round and pluck blackberries.”
Elizabeth Barrett Browning//
The question that plagues homeschool moms is “am I doing enough”, and Charlotte Mason moms are not immune to these doubts.
With so many options and opportunities it is easy to second guess ourselves and wonder if we are doing it right.
We not only have Charlotte Mason’s writings to glean from, we also have many other books such as A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola, For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macauley and In Vital Harmony by Karen Glass, with new resources coming out constantly.
It can be difficult to wade through the many choices and decide what is best for our family.
The key for me, is knowing my vision for education. I’m not trying to be a perfect Charlotte Mason homeschooler. I’m not trying to teach my children everything there is to know. My main goal as a homeschool mom is that my children know and love God, and so that makes it easy to choose resources, to prioritize daily lesson plans, and to develop our reading lists.
It's also been helpful to have graduated students from my homeschool. With a strong focus on reading and discussing in our homeschool, my children have been able to excel in college classes, find meaningful work, and build a community. It's made it really easy for me to trust the process and not get micro focused on how much we got done in one day.
We simply work our way through the Peaceful Press elementary resources and book lists, adding in daily math and some grammar or writing each day. We don't pay much attention to grades in the early years, but instead keep track of progress and interest level. When children are interested in learning, and making progress in their skills, we can be confident that we are doing enough.
If they are lacking interest or being oppositional, they may be burned out and just need a little break for creativity and calm.
If this sounds like your child, take a break this holiday season to dive into our Holiday Resources. Each guide includes fun, hands on learning that will reinforce literacy and math skills, encourage motor development, and most importantly, spark joy and connection.
Has a similar format to The Peaceful Preschool and Nourishing Nature Kindergarten, with daily suggestions for read aloud, phonics, counting, motor skills and more. We include games like sock ball snowball fight, recipes like Christmas Granola bars, and phonics and counting activities that are full of fun. It's a great resource for Christmas school, perfect for 3-5 year old students but even older elementary children will want to join in the fun.
This is the follow up to our original and includes recipes for Olive Oil Orange Cake and Butterscotch Bars, poetry by Christina Rossetti, Christmas phonics and word matching games, and more. The phonics and math are a little more advanced than those that are included in Volume 1 which makes it perfect for kindergarten and early elementary students. It's also organized to accompany our history cycles with a week of Nature Christmas, Pioneer Christmas, European Christmas, and World Christmas.
Each day includes thoughtful readings, and family centered activities. It would make a lovely morning time guide or evening devotion resource and can be used with all ages, but the thoughtful questions and reflections are especially great for elementary and above.
You could just grab one of these guides, they are only $19 each, or purchase a Christmas Guide and receive Unearthing Wonder for free and make this holiday season bright.
1 comment
What about science? I see you talk about reading, writing, grammar and even adding in math but what do you do for science? And in the high school years? When my child is not “on track” with the curriculum schedule I find myself pushing them to do it and they have little to no desire. And the fact that they’re “behind” and aren’t going to be finished with the book before the school year ends gives me anxiety.