Using Charlotte Mason – Getting Started

Since blogging about my intent to use strictly Charlotte Mason methods for Michaela this coming year and my desire to use Ambleside Online, I have had some questions from readers about the books I’m using and what I recommend to get started with CM (Charlotte Mason).  From the start of this endeavor, I had planned to blog about how it all unfolded for me, so I thought I’d do a “getting started” post.

I have loved Charlotte Mason’s philosophy for a long time.  My first exposure to her was from reading A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola, which I first read in June of 2000.  At that time Michaela was not quite 2.  The subtitle of A Charlotte Mason Companion is “Personal Reflections on The Gentle Art of Learning.”  The book is indeed full of personal reflection.  There are a lot of Charlotte Mason quotes sprinkled throughout the book, which makes for a nice introduction to the way Charlotte Mason herself spoke and wrote, but much of the 49 chapters is Mrs. Andreola’s personal experience with using Charlotte Mason’s philosophy and Mrs. Andreola’s sharing what she personally gleaned from reading Charlotte Mason’s works.  Each chapter ends in a list of questions for personal reflection.  I particularly like the formatting of the book, and the illustrations are absolutely beautiful.

My well worn, much read copy of A Charlotte Mason Companion

When asked what my favorite book is to introduce someone to Charlotte Mason, I really don’t have a list to pull from.  A Charlotte Mason Companion is the only one I’ve read, but honestly I found it so packed with information and so easy to read, I’ve never strayed from it.  It is the only book I can truly recommend at this point.

Having given you a little review of A Charlotte Mason Companion, let me tell you how it affected me.  I found that I agreed with all of it.  The CM philosophy seemed to embody the way I felt instinctively about teaching, but as Charlotte Mason said in quoting Pestalozzi (again), “The mother is qualified, and qualified by the Creator Himself, to become the principal agent in the development of her child;…and what is demanded of her is—a thinking love…”  A thinking love.  Isn’t that beautiful?  What the book did for me was give me some direction in taking my instincts and refining them into routines for our homelife.  Not that I’ve done so great a job, but it made me see even more the need to live and mother and teach with intention.

In my opinion, hand in hand with A Charlotte Mason Companion should go Pocketful of Pinecones, also written by Karen Andreola.  Pocketful of Pinecones is a very sweet, old-fashioned fictional story of a lady named Carol, living in the 1930s and deciding to educate her children at home using nature study.  Carol’s teaching is definitely in the Charlotte Mason style.

Since Pocketful of Pinecones is a fictional story, albeit a tale beautifully woven from Karen Andreola’s thoughts and no doubt taken partly from her own experience, I would recommend reading it after you’ve learned a little about Charlotte Mason and decided you want to use Charlotte Mason.   On the other hand, the story is so beautiful, it might make you want to teach using nature study and CM methods. 

But what if you want to get straight to the writing of Charlotte Mason herself?  First, there’s a lot of writing to read.  There are six volumes written over some 40 years–lots and lots of reading, and obviously she gained experience as she wrote and taught, so the last volume is bound to be just as important as the first.  According to Ambleside Online, if you are to use CM methods it is vital that you read volume 6.  I just don’t see how anyone could read all six volumes over a summer while still cooking, cleaning and tending to daily life, so where does one start?

What I have done is set up a Charlotte Mason notebook for myself.

On the front of the notebook you see the motto of Charlotte Mason students.   You can read more about it at the Ambleside site:  CM Students Motto.

I started by printing the short summaries of the six volumes, found at Ambleside, and if you look at their notation under volume six, you’ll see why they so highly recommend reading volume 6:  CM Summaries.  I’m sure I can sit down and read the summaries in one or two days for a quick overview.

In reading the complete volumes themselves, however, I have already started the original version of Volume  I.  (There’s also a Modern English Version on the Ambleside website.)  I’m printing as I go because I just don’t like to read on the computer screen.  (We won’t talk about how many ink cartridges I’m going to burn through over the next year or so.  Or how many notebooks I’ll need.)

If you want to share and discuss with others while you read, Ambleside Online apparently has a group that discusses CM’s writings.  As luck would have it, at the time of this post they are still in volume I.  You can read more about the group/list here:  CM Series E-Mail List Reading Schedule.

Other things I’ve printed for my notebook include:

• Ambleside’s FAQ section.  (Yes, I printed all those pages.)  You can easily read them online without printing.  I work in front of a computer for 8 long hours three days a week, so again I try to get away from the computer screen as much as possible.  I also wanted the FAQ in my notebook.  I am serious about using Ambleside Online this coming year, so it was important to me.  And last but not least, as they say right on the Ambleside website, “It is not advisable to attempt this curriculum without first reading the FAQ.”  I want the FAQ in my notebook for easy reference and where I can underline and make notes.
• Charlotte Mason’s 20 principles.  They are placed in clear covers for easy reference.
• I’ve also printed the book lists for years 4, 5, and 6 to pore over, because honestly I don’t know where I’ll place Michaela yet.  To be truthful, I want to print off every year’s book list so that I can make sure we’ve read all the must-reads they’ve listed. 

Over the past few weeks I’ve been thinking out loud on my blog about whether or not to go with a boxed curriculum.  I’ve looked at many fine choices which have come highly recommended by friends and by review, but I’ve been afraid to “box us in,” so to speak.  I also couldn’t see myself paying nearly 1000 dollars and then feeling overwhelmed with a schedule that I did not put together myself, although I recognize that with my work schedule I do need some structure.

Since Charlotte Mason has me by the heart and since Ambleside Online is a free curriculum with a ton of support by way of e-mail groups and a huge website, I decided to go with Ambleside Online.  It offers me the flexibility to be able to continue with Beyond Five In A Row, and yet the book lists are already written out and the proposed lesson schedules are posted on the website.  How much easier could it be?  My big job is to further acquaint myself with Charlotte Mason and the Ambleside Online website over our summer break.  In addition to that I need to decide which year to place Michaela in (the year does not necessarily equal a grade level) and I need to get our books together and work out which days of the week we’ll do our “weekly” lessons.  I have to prepare our home and my mind for a year of Ambleside Online.

Once our school year begins, I’ll continue to read through Charlotte Mason’s writings. 

That, folks, is where I am at right now.  I hope this post has helped even one of you, and I hope it explains why I’m choosing what I’m choosing.  There are more details for me to work through as far as what I’ll do regarding the workbox system and which math I’ll use (we’ve always used Saxon).  I will defnitely continue to post about our Charlotte Mason year.

In my sidebar, you’ll find my affiliate Barnes and Noble links to books that I find useful. 

I think it’s going to be a fun and beautiful year. 

Lynn