Have you ever wondered about our switch from Waldorf to Charlotte Mason education? This is why we moved from one to the other in our homeschool, and what attracted me to both styles of educating.

We started school again on the first Monday of August – a whole month earlier than the public schools up here in Canada. When I look back over my notes from the week, I see that we didn’t finish close to a third of what I had planned. Despite that, I feel like the week was an overwhelming success because it changed the whole atmosphere of our home. The fighting decreased dramatically and we had some amazing moments – moments like:

~ relaxing with River on the couch in the evening, both of us knitting while we listened to the first chapter of A Wrinkle in Time.

~ sitting with River at the gardens of a local church and sketching flowers while Forest tried to eat our pencil crayons.

~ spending lots of time outside with friends – two visits to the Royal Botanical Gardens, a homeschool hike at a conservation area and a trip to a local farm with a lovely area for kids to play in.

And then, to finish off the first week with a bang, I attended a Charlotte Mason conference on Saturday, which gave me some new ideas and perspectives for our homeschooling year.

A Charlotte Who conference?

Right. I know that I throw the name Charlotte Mason around on the blog from time to time, and I get that it might not be familiar to everyone. Even among homeschoolers, many people are unfamiliar with her ideas. Well, the new homeschoolers. Old-timey homeschoolers are probably sick to death of us bringing her up. Ha.

Discovering Charlotte Mason

I remember the first time I heard of Charlotte Mason. River was taking a year off of school. It was Junior Kindergarten (JK), so I didn’t have a lot planned in the way of curriculum. I decided to follow a Waldorf program because I had enjoyed the local school’s classes so much — but when it came time to do the Waldorf lessons at home, I discovered that we were both a little … bored. No worries, it was just JK, right? We just focused on play instead. And the next year? Well, I’d figure it out by then, I was sure. Or by first grade. Definitely by second grade.

One day, River and I came across a gathering of homeschoolers at a park. I went up to one of the women — I remember that she had long, blond hair and a really gentle voice. She embodied the type of easy-going, mellow mother that I want to be when I grow up.

I was excited to meet another homeschooling mother and I asked her about the group. She told me that it was a group of families that meet regularly to sit under a big shady tree and read out loud together. She said it was a “Charlotte Mason” homeschooling group.

A what now?

I remember that she laughed sheepishly. She said that she has a hard time summing up all that is Charlotte Mason, but the part that really drew her in was the emphasis on living books — books that capture the imagination of students and make the lessons come alive. She said the children learn about English and geography and history and science by reading really great literature — and when I heard that, my heart skipped a beat. That’s what I wanted.

And then I went home and promptly forgot the name Charlotte Mason. Like, completely. In an attempt to find that woman back, I kept returning to the park, but I never saw that group again, and finally, after a few months, I completely forgot about that chance meeting. Even though we’ve returned to that park many times over the years, I’ve never seen them again.

My Favourite Parts of Waldorf Homeschooling

No matter. We finished JK and then River went back to school for a year. When we pulled her out of public school for grade one, we turned to Waldorf again. Because have you seen a Waldorf blog? They make life look pretty beautiful. Besides, there are so many aspects of Waldorf education that I like:

• An emphasis on outdoor experiences.
• The delaying of formal education until at least the age of 7.
• An emphasis on imagination, expressed through creative play and the telling of fairy tales.
• An attention to handiwork, like knitting, woodworking, felting.
• An appreciation of natural beauty expressed through homemade clothes, simple toys, and lovely nature tables.
• Rhythm is stressed through days, weeks, years and holidays.
• Wool. Just so much wool.

I never aimed to be a Waldorf purist (my kids don’t like hats) but I was happy enough to let the Waldorf culture inspire our daily rhythm.

And then, by chance, I unexpectedly stumbled across the name Charlotte Mason again and this time I wrote the name down, and I bought the books and I joined the study group and I found the Facebook groups. I knew without a doubt that we found our happy place.

My Favourite Parts of Charlotte Mason Homeschooling

That was a year and a half ago now, and I haven’t looked back. We love Charlotte Mason homeschooling. I’ve meant to write about this method of teaching, yet like the woman I met at the park that one summer afternoon, I find it hard to know where to start. It’s not just a curriculum, it’s a lifestyle. So after a lot of thought, I decided that I should follow the example of the woman that first introduced me to CM and tell you what appeals to me:

• As parents, we’re to present our children with a rich, wide selection of ideas using literature, poetry, classical music and art. I never thought reading poems with my kids would be fun but they love the beauty of the words and the music and their enthusiasm is contagious.
• In our curriculum, we use “living books” which are books that capture the imagination and make the information come alive. These books might be non-fiction, where you can feel the passion of the author as you read the words. The books could also be fiction too, teaching us about other times and places and cultures with great characters and interesting plots. I think that we all learn much better through gripping story lines than we do by memorizing dry facts.
• Our lessons are short. Charlotte Mason believed that, for young children, each lesson should be 10-15 minutes long and all formal lessons should be finished in the morning so that the afternoon can be spent playing outside. She also stressed that during those short lessons, the children should focus intensely – no daydreaming or distraction allowed.
• There are no workbooks or other busy work. Children listen to a reading or read a selection themselves, and then they narrate it back to you in their own words to demonstrate understanding. It’s harder than it sounds – and River is far better at narrating than I am.
• Spending time outdoors is important. I’ve read in one place that we should be outside for 4-6 hours a day; I’ve heard elsewhere that children should have at least 5 hours of free, unprogrammed time and that 3 of those hours should be outdoors. Right now, we’re aiming for a minimum of 30 minutes daily. Sigh. Baby steps. Baby steps.
• There is an emphasis on imagination, expressed through creative play and lots and lots of fascinating stories.
• Handiwork, like knitting, woodworking, and felting, are part of the curriculum. That makes trips to the yarn store an “educational expense.”
• Habit formation or character building are equally important as other studies. After all, we want our children to grow up to be thoughtful, capable people as well as educated, right?
• Charlotte Mason didn’t push preschoolers to read and write – she held off on formal lessons until the age of 6 and focused on habit training and nature study instead with younger children.

Can you see how the same things that appealed to me in Waldorf appeal are found in Charlotte Mason as well? But where we struggled a bit to incorporate Waldorf into our homeschool, Charlotte Mason feels natural and easy.

The following sites will give you more information on the Charlotte Mason style of homeschooling:

• An Introduction to Charlotte Mason on Ambleside.org
• What is the Charlotte Mason Method on Simply Charlotte Mason
• 7 Characteristics of a Charlotte Mason Education on Simple Homeschool
• Wayfarers: Our Charlotte-Mason Curriculum Choice for 2016/2017 on Unhurried Home.