How to Get Started with Charlotte Mason Homeschooling

You’ve found Charlotte Mason, and now you want to dive in headfirst! Great! But how do you go about actually doing that? I know it can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be complicated, and there are a lot of great resources available to guide you on your path to begin homeschooling using this philosophy. Today I’m suggesting a few beginner steps to take when you’re first interested in using a Charlotte Mason approach in your homeschool journey and sharing a few helpful resources as well.

My Journey

Before I list the baby steps and resources, I will go back to the beginning of my own Charlotte Mason journey and share how I got started.

In 2013, I was offering virtual assistant services to bloggers. At the time and even now, as I look back on it, it felt like Charlotte Mason was starting to get a lot of attention in the blogging world. I also kept hearing her mentioned in other places as well, including other moms with younger children switching to her methods, just getting started homeschooling, or simply exploring their options.

Even though my oldest was only two, being the planner that I am, I had already decided on a curriculum and a path we would take for his education. I didn’t feel like I really needed to do any more research. However, Ms. Mason kept popping up in many different places, especially on the websites of the bloggers with whom I was working at the time, and I wondered more and more what was so great about this Charlotte Mason person.

Later that year, I helped work on an ebook bundle sale, from which I received a copy of all of the resources, including a book about the 19th-century British educator, Charlotte Mason. I finally gave in to my curiosity, and, even though I had “decided” on our homeschooling future, I read the book. While it wasn’t extremely compelling, it did pique my interest, and one of the things that the author recommended to learn more about Charlotte Mason was to read Susan Schaeffer-Macaulay’s For the Children’s Sake.

If you have read this book, you’ll know that this is the gateway drug to Charlotte Mason. In the last nine years of being immersed in this philosophy, I have heard countless stories through podcasts and blog posts and people I’ve talked to about how this book was what drew them in. And that was the case for me as well.

I picked up a copy, read it, and everything resonated so profoundly with me. Of course, there were certain things like picture study that appealed to me the most, but overall, everything she said, from nature study to language arts, her emphasis on allowing children to spend time in the natural world and their exposure to living ideas through great literature, was exactly how I felt about how I wanted to educate my children. I loved that her holistic approach was meant for the whole child, and not merely to prepare them for a future career. I decided that this was what I wanted for our family.

So I began to dive into the original volumes and read other things Ms. Mason had written, things that she had edited, and things that were written about her. And again, almost everything I read reiterated to me that this was the right path for us. So I chucked the idea for the curriculum that I was so determined we would be using before that, and we’ve been all-in on a Charlotte Masone education ever since.

With all of that said, if you aren’t familiar with Charlotte Mason’s ideas and are looking for a thorough and well-written summarization, I recommend starting with For the Children’s Sake!

The Volumes

So after you’ve read For the Children’s Sake, what now? I believe the next logical step is to start reading Ms. Mason’s volumes. Don’t panic, though! You do not need to read these before you begin homeschooling. It definitely helps, but many home educators (myself included) read the books while homeschooling.

When I began reading the volumes, I decided to start with the first one (because my kids were still young) and read it on my own, which was probably a mistake in hindsight with a toddler and a newborn in tow. These are weighty (but so good!) books, and the language can be challenging at times, especially if you’re not used to immersing yourself in late-19th/early-20th-century language (which was the case for me when I started reading them). Leslie Noelani Laurio, from the Ambleside Online Advisory, has put together a modern English paraphrase that can be helpful when the language proves to be a little too challenging.

I also highly recommend finding a group, whether online or in-person (more about that below), that is currently making their way through the volumes and reading along with them. You really can jump into the volumes anywhere and don’t need to start at the beginning, so don’t let that stop you from joining a group. Not only does this offer a form of accountability, but discussing the ideas with others can be helpful as they can give you a deeper understanding of the texts, answer questions, and offer views that you might not otherwise consider.

Here are a few different options:

In-Person Groups

When my daughter was old enough for me to be away in the evenings, I shocked my introverted self by joining a local Charlotte Mason book group with other homeschool parents that was reading through Volume 4: Ourselves. It wasn’t the first book in the series, but I have zero regrets about joining the group at that time, as that is what got me into actually reading the volumes. It also brought some of my dearest and closest friends into my life. Through that group, we also joined a homeschool co-op that we were part of for four years, and it was such a blessing to our family. If you are comfortable meeting with others and a group meets near you (I found mine through charlottemasonincommunity.com), I highly recommend this option.

Online Groups

My in-person group got me started reading the volumes, and when the group stopped meeting in 2020, my online group helped me finally finish the volumes. I am currently in the Idyll Challenge 3 and have made my way through five of the six volumes since we began in August of 2020. We will finish all six volumes by this August (of 2022), and then the challenge will be re-set, and they will start the volumes with new groups. Admittedly, while I loved meeting locally with my friends once per month for my in-person group, meeting online once a month has been much more convenient. I make myself a cup of tea, bring my computer to a quiet place in the house (usually the basement), and spend an hour chatting with other women who have been reading through the same section of the volumes as I have.

Forum Groups

When I first began reading the volumes in 2014 and decided I couldn’t do it on my own, I found a group on the AmblesideOnline Forums just starting Home Education. This worked well for me for a little while, but I eventually fell behind and stopped altogether. While this wasn’t the best method for me, your mileage may vary, and it could work well for you.

With a Friend

Last but certainly not least, if you have a friend who wants to read through the volumes also, create your own mini-group! I know a few people who have ongoing book discussions through Voxer with a friend, and I think this is a wonderful way to go through the volumes.

The Basics

Now that you have a basic understanding of Charlotte Mason’s principles and you’re making your way through her philosophy in her own words, what’s next? You can begin including some of her ideas in your own homeschool. A few quick guides to get you started can be found online:

• 31 Days of Charlotte Mason (Brandy also offers a Charlotte Mason Bootcamp each year that is great for beginners!)
• AmblesideOnline Patio Chats (39 discussions about various characteristics of a Charlotte Mason education)

And here are what I feel are the essentials:

Living Books

For the children? They must grow up upon the best. There must never be a period in their lives when they are allowed to read or listen to twaddle or reading-made-easy. There is never a time when they are unequal to worthy thoughts, well put; inspiring tales, well told. Let Blake’s ‘Songs of Innocence’ represent their standard in poetry; De Foe and Stevenson, in prose; and we shall train a race of readers who will demand literature––that is, the fit and beautiful expression of inspiring ideas and pictures of life.

Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children

One more thing is of vital importance; children must have books, living books. The best is not too good for them; anything less than the best is not good enough. And if it is needful to exercise economy, let go everything that belongs to soft and luxurious living before letting go the duty of supplying the books, and the frequent changes of books, which are necessary for the constant stimulation of the child’s intellectual life.

Charlotte Mason, Parents and Children

Living books are quality books (not dry textbooks) that offer ideas, not standalone facts and stagnant information. Sometimes these are written by experts in their field who have a passion for their subject. Often they are written in story form. Here are a few resources where you can find general lists of living books:

• AmblesideOnline (their Master Booklist is here – this is the Charlotte Mason curriculum we have used since first grade and they also offer extensive teacher resources on their website!
• Books Children Love (this offers book ideas for different subjects at different ages)
• Honey for a Child’s Heart (I use this more for free reads and other books the kids read on their own)

You can read more about living books here.

Narration

They must read the given pages and tell what they have read, they must perform, that is, what we may call the act of knowing. We are all aware, alas, what a monstrous quantity of printed matter has gone into the dustbin of our memories, because we have failed to perform that quite natural and spontaneous ‘act of knowing,’ as easy to a child as breathing and, if we would believe it, comparatively easy to ourselves.

Charlotte Mason, Towards a Philosophy of Education

Narration is your child “telling back” what they read or heard you read in their own words, and it is a must in a Charlotte Mason education. I have known home educators who thought they were giving their children a Charlotte Mason education, but they did not require any kind of narration (e.g., verbal, written, acted out, etc.). However, without narration, you are not allowing them to process the ideas they’ve come in contact with and make them their own.

You can read more about narration as a theory here and narration as a practice here.

Short Lessons

In the first place, there is a time-table, written out fairly, so that the child knows what he has to do and how long each lesson is to last. This idea of definite work to be finished in a given time is valuable to the child, not only as training him in habits of order, but in diligence; he learns that one time is not ‘as good as another’; that there is no right time left for what is not done in its own time; and this knowledge alone does a great deal to secure the child’s attention to his work. Again, the lessons are short, seldom more than twenty minutes in length for children under eight; and this, for two or three reasons. The sense that there is not much time for his sums or his reading, keeps the child’s wits on the alert and helps to fix his attention; he has time to learn just so much of any one subject as it is good for him to take in at once: and if the lessons be judiciously alternated–sums first, say, while the brain is quite fresh; then writing, or reading–some more or less mechanical exercise, by way of a rest; and so on, the program varying a little from day to day, but the same principle throughout–a ‘thinking’ lesson first, and a ‘painstaking’ lesson to follow,–the child gets through his morning lessons without any sign of weariness.

Charlotte Mason, Home Education

Between my two students, one in Year 2 and one in Year 5, we begin our school day around 9 am, and it is over by 1 pm every day, sometimes earlier. I am still doing many of the readings with my Year 5 student and all of the readings with my Year 2 student, but we still only use about half of our day for lessons. The reason for this is short and varied lessons. We have a set amount of time for each subject, and even if our assigned reading isn’t finished in the time allotted, we stop when the timer goes off and pick up where we left off next time. Sometimes this causes groans because they want me to keep reading a particularly good book, or there’s a sigh of relief because a subject has been especially challenging and they’d like to move on. Either way, we stick to this routine, and after 5.5 years of scheduling our days in this manner, I can’t imagine doing it any other way.

I have a post about how I schedule our weekly lesson plans here, but Nicole Williams has also written a very detailed and extremely helpful series on how to schedule your Charlotte Mason Homeschool here.

Next Steps

With these tools at your disposal, you have a good framework from which to start your journey. As you explore and learn more, you can begin to add the other parts of a Charlotte Mason education that make it a cohesive whole, such as composer study, picture study, and nature study.

Keep educating yourself by continuing to read through her volumes and other things she wrote or edited (Charlotte Mason Poetry is a wealth of information in this regard). If you can, attend conferences (we have one here in Colorado!) and look for other Charlotte Mason homeschooling families in your area (again, charlottemasonincommunity.com is a great resource for finding both of these things!).

More Resources

If you listen to podcasts, there are some excellent ones out there to help you continue immersing yourself in Ms. Mason’s philosophies:

• The New Mason Jar
• A Delectable Education
• Charlotte Mason for All
• Charlotte Mason Poetry

And of course, many websites exist with lots of helpful information as well. Here are a few of my favorites:

• Afterthoughts
• Sabbath Mood Homeschool
• Sage Parnassus
• Charlotte Mason Poetry

I also have a series of posts on my website about how we’ve done Charlotte Mason homeschooling each school year through the years:

• Year 1
• Year 2
• Year 3
• Year 4
• Year 5

And of course, I also wrote about our kindergarten year, which later became the Charlotte Mason-Inspired Kindergarten Curriculum available in my shop!

I hope this is helpful for those of you who have just started on your Charlotte Mason journey! And for my seasoned friends, let me know if there are any great resources I left out!

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