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Our Charlotte Mason Inspired Homeschool

After homeschooling for a couple of years I stumbled upon the Charlotte Mason philosophy.

Ever since learning more about the Charlotte Mason method we’ve adapted some principles into our homeschool days. I am not a ‘strict’ Charlotte Mason homeschooler, but I wanted to share some key elements that I really love and that we’re using.

Charlotte Mason Homeschooling books

Our Charlotte Mason Homeschool

  • Living Books
  • Copywork
  • Narration
  • Reading great literature
  • Short lessons
  • Nature Study
  • Creating an education atmosphere to encourage life long learning
  • Art + Poetry
  • Lots of time outdoors

Charlotte Mason elements we’re not doing

So because we’re secular homeschoolers, there are some Charlotte Mason elements we’re not including into our homeschool:

  • Hymn Study
  • Scripture Memory

I would love to add music into our homeschool but it’s been hard to organize that so far. 

Living Books are fantastic for Nature Study in Charlotte Mason homeschool #homeschool #homeschooling #charlottemason

Do you need curriculum?

One thing I love about a Charlotte Mason homeschool is that you can read great literature and discuss the book with narration. You can do this for free by using books you have or borrowing them from your local library. Find any book that your children are interested in and get them to do copywork.

Our kids have loved doing copywork after they have some reading practice. I often have our grade 1 or 3 read a few pages, then choose a page of their choice to copy. Then they can draw a picture afterwards if they want to.

I take a more modern approach with our copywork.

Although we read a lot of classic literature, we also read more modern books.

If our kids are loving something like birds, fairytale or even *gasp* viking How to Train your Dragon we roll with them.

Homeschoolers that are devoted to Charlotte Mason ideals would likely not allow for the latter, for it’s ‘twaddle’ but I roll with it. Our daughter has a hard time focusing so if I can get her interested and focused, I go with it. If your kids are struggling with language arts then getting your kids to choose what they do for copywork is great win. 

Some samples of our copywork

Struggling with language arts in homeschool? Get your kids to choose what they love for copywork

Where to find Charlotte Mason curriculum

If you are not a secular homeschooler then I know many homeschoolers love using Simply Charlotte Mason. 

If you are a secular homeschooler who is ok with a lighter Charlotte Mason approach but wishes for some guidance with narration and copywork, then I definitely recommend Build your Library.

I love Emily Cook’s book ‘A Literary Education: Adapting Charlotte Mason for Modern Secular Homeschooling‘ too (she’s the creator of Build your Library). 

I haven’t had any experience with Wildwood, but they also offer a secular Charlotte Mason approach and guidance.

We’ve been using ‘Math Lessons for a Living Education‘ which offers a Charlotte Mason approach to math, even though we’re secular. I do have to tweak it constantly, but I do still enjoy the curriculum. I know other homeschoolers that are using the Charlotte Mason Elementary Arithmetic Series which I haven’t checked out yet.

Are you a Charlotte Mason Homeschooler?

What resources do you love?

Disclosure

Nature Homeschool is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com

Many of the links to products on this site are affiliate links. I only recommend products that I’ve used based from my own homeschooling experience. I do make a small commission (at no extra cost to you) from these sales.

Comments

  1. Thanks for this Isis, I have been hearing the name “Charlotte Mason” used around and was not totally clear on her approach. This post has given me a sense of the method.

  2. What books did you have open about bees? We are doing a big bee study this year and I am looking for recommendations as libraries are closed and I need to be pickier about the books I buy. Thank you!

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