I would like to start a series of entries explaining, to the best of my understanding, the Charlotte Mason way of educating.  I hesitate to do this because I don’t want to set myself up as some kind of expert on Miss Mason.  But I do have a purpose, and that is to help those who might read this blog to understand this way of "living" (educating).  Miss Mason, whose full name was Charlotte Marie Mason, was born January 1, 1842 and died January 16, 1923 at the age of 81.  She was an only child and lost both parents within a year of each other.  She became an orphan at age 17. …

I have a four year old who likes to be included occasionally when we do school.  I know he would love it if I did more things with him but I guess I’m just not organized enough to have activities lined out for him.  I’m of the opinion that it is beneficial to give him something that has learning value.  I don’t want to give him, nor does he want, coloring pages.  What other things can we do?    Here are a few sites I’ve found that have helpful ideas for what to do with preschoolers. Simply Charlotte Mason – Ideas for 3-5 year olds What to Do with Preschoolers by Karen Andreola Higher Up and Further In has some very doable…

My daughter is using the Greenleaf Guide to Old Testament for her History.  I decided not to follow Ambleside Online’s suggestion of Our Island Story because I felt my daughter needed to be grounded more in the Bible stories and history of the Old Testament.   I have used Greenleaf Guide to OT History for my older boys and was very pleased with it.  I felt like it really helped us to realize that the events that happened in the Bible were not in some isolated country in a time when there were no other people but that they were an actual part of world events of their time. I have a…

Dewey’s Treehouse is hosting the 4th Charlotte Mason Carnival.  Be sure to visit.    My entry, Making the Choice to Rejoice, can be found here.

 Recently, for part of our nature study we read William Bartram – America’s First Naturalist.  William lived from 1739-1823.   The book is written in a journal style and starts when he was 8 years old.  Williams father was a botanist and passed on to William a love for nature.  He taught William to identify plant families by looking at ‘the shape of the leaves, the structure of the seeds, buds, and flowers , the bark and branching patterns of trees.’ Between the two of them they are credited with introducing more then 200 plants into cultivation.  Many plants would have become extinct if not for them. I read the first half of this book to…