Simply Charlotte Mason Homeschooling

This week, Sonya gives an overview of the new Delightful Reading kits.

An investment is something you usually do for yourself; you put in the capital. An endowment is like an inheritance; someone else supplies the capital. That’s what you are giving your child as you contribute to his “habit account.”

Habit-training a child provides an opportunity for a built-in support system. You can be a supporter and encourager to your child. He will find it easier to succeed because you are right there beside him—sympathizing with his efforts, challenging him to be his best, and cheering him on.

Consequences can be powerful motivators. Natural consequences are the most powerful, but often you have to adjust and give your child a substitute consequence in order to keep him encouraged along the way or prevent him from ruining his life.

Adults usually have to come up with habit triggers for themselves, but parents can help their children by spotlighting triggers for them. The trick is to not become your child’s trigger.

Scientists tell us that habits are a three-step process. First, there is a trigger or prompt that cues you to do the desired action. Second, you do the action in response. Third, you experience some kind of reward that makes you want to repeat the process. The more you repeat the process, the deeper it becomes engrained in your brain.

There are some differences between laying down the rails in your child’s life and laying them down for yourself. When cultivating good habits in your child’s life, you do some of the work for him.

It is the parent’s business to lay down and maintain the rails of good habits in a child’s life. We need to consider well the desired destination and work hard at making the trip invitingly smooth.

What should you do if your child cannot answer a CM-style exam question?

As we wrap up this series on Charlotte Mason Subject by Subject, here are some resources that will help you take the next step of planning your home school.

Let’s take a brief look at how mathematics are taught in a Charlotte Mason education.

Charlotte Mason’s approach to grammar was vastly different from the way you were probably taught.

When we talk about writing, we usually have one or both of these aspects in mind: handwriting and composition. Let’s look at each one and outline how Charlotte Mason approached them.

A look at our new 2016-17 Calendar Journal, which features excerpts from Laying Down the Rails for Yourself, so you will have timely reminders of key ideas from that book all year round.

Charlotte Mason taught spelling in context, not in lists. And her methods make total sense when you see the progression from beginning reader to advanced student.