Here are some ideas for incorporating some Charlotte Mason basics in your homeschool. These ideas work well with multiple ages. I have all my kids sit at one table and complete copywork, narration, basics with language, math and spelling before going off in different directions. This allows them all to spend time together and learn from each other.
Copywork:
Use a favorite verse, hymn, song lyrics or passage from a book for your children to copy. If you have a young child than have her focus on a letter or writing something simple like her name.
Narration:
Your children may all be reading different books but you can plan a narration together easily by reading aloud an Aesop Fable or Fairy Tale for all to enjoy.
Have young children draw a character or setting of the story. Have your older children define a character’s attributes or state how they are like or unlike the character. You also could have your children put on a mini skit of the story.
Spelling:
Take your child’s spelling words and write each word twice on index cards, being careful not to use a marker that bleeds through the card. Now, shuffle the cards and place them face down in rows to play Spelling Memory!
If you have children too young for spelling then play Hang Man as a group. This way your young child can see how letters come together to form words. A younger child also loves guessing the letters and it will aid in letter recognition.
Language Focus:
Adjectives are fun to focus on as a group. When I was a kid and even today, adjectives or describing words, were my favorite!
Define adjectives for your child.
Preschool/Kindergarten: Direct your child to items in books or around the house and have her describe the items using only one word to reinforce adjectives. It is not important that the child knows the word “adjective” or can define it on command…just have fun using them!
Elementary: Give your child a topic, item, or use a character from her current reading, and have her list as many adjectives as possible relating to the subject. Chances are your child won’t get many out before exhausting her vocabulary so this is time to break out, another of my favorites, the thesaurus!
Math Fun:
This is another index card activity. Now is your chance to finally use all those index cards you buy every year and never open! Use whatever math topic your child is studying, and write equations on one card and the answer on the other. Make several of these, enough for a challenging memory game. Then, you guessed it, flip them over and play Math Memory!
Preschool/Kindergarten: Same concept, except one card will have “X” number of dots and the other will have the numeral. You may not have to use more than 10 cards or less for young children.
Natural Science:
Let’s focus on nature. Look outside and/or go outside. I recommend going outside if the weather permits. Have your child focus on details for this drawing. For instance, draw the lines of tree bark or take the paper and do a bark or leaf rubbing with crayon. If it is snowy than have your child focus on the glitter of snow, how it falls or how it sits on the trees or other objects.