Author Archives: Karen Edmisten

Charlotte Mason: Reluctant Narrators

Charlotte Mason advocated the use of oral or written narrations as a way of having a child report on his reading. There are several reasons that narration can be so helpful. Narrating a just-read passage helps a child to internalize and remember it, and aids reading comprehension. It’s also a great help to the homeschooling parent, who can find out immediately what and how much the child has absorbed. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it? Have your child read a short passage (anywhere from a paragraph to a chapter, depending on your child’s age and ability.) Then, have him tell you … Continue reading →

More Charlotte Mason: An atmosphere, a discipline, a life

Recently, I discussed how Charlotte Mason’s ideas about living books and “education as a science of relations” influenced my homeschooling philosophies and methods. Today I want to take a look at another key phrase of Miss Mason’s that also shaped my approach to homeschooling. Charlotte Mason said, “Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, a life.” What, exactly, did she mean? Let’s break it down, bit by bit. Education is an atmosphere What is an educational atmosphere? For Charlotte Mason, it’s more than a room full of textbooks. An atmosphere that encourages rich learning is one full of living books written … Continue reading →

More on Charlotte Mason: The “Science of Relations”

In my last post, I talked about the ways in which my daughters made connections, through living books and hands-on activities, that helped them to learn (and retain what they’d learned) about various historical periods, specifically, late 19th and early 20th century history. Charlotte Mason, in her Original Homeschooling Series, spoke of these connections when she called education the “science of relations.” Miss Mason believed that children have a natural thirst for knowledge and a great capacity for amassing it. She believed that their quest to understand and absorb the world around them could be channeled quite productively into learning, … Continue reading →

More on Charlotte Mason and Living Books

Andrea’s recent post about her use of a Charlotte Mason (or, “CM”) curriculum inspired me to share a little more about how we use Miss Mason’s methods in our homeschool. Charlotte Mason, a 19th century British educator, was unmarried and childless, but she had a keen understanding of children and an expert’s eye for what interests them. One of the most prominent tenets of her philosophy — her belief that educators and parents should make use of “living books” rather than textbooks — has had a strong influence on our homeschool and on my personal philosophy. I was just beginning … Continue reading →

Homeschooling with a toddler

You’ve homeschooled while pregnant. You’ve survived it with a newborn. Now, you’re ready for the ultimate challenge: homeschooling with a toddler in the house. Seemingly overnight, you realize that what you thought was hard (adding a baby to the homeschool mix) was actually a piece of cake. Babies nap, babies nurse, babies snuggle and coo when you read aloud. “Hey,” you say to yourself, “we accomplished a lot this year. And I was afraid a new baby would throw everything off.” And just as you hit that great rhythm, your child decides to grow up a little more. She starts … Continue reading →

Homeschooling with a newborn

In my last post, I talked about planning homeschooling around a pregnancy. But, what happens when the new baby arrives, or possibly two babies arrive and you feel as if you’re getting nothing done? You still have math to teach, science experiments to do, and essays to read. You already know the most important thing you need to know about babies: they require time, attention and love. If yours happens to require lots of sleep as well, I envy you. Mine never seemed to need that. The amount of time, attention and love they require necessarily alters a homeschooling environment … Continue reading →

Homeschooling while pregnant

Recently, I posted about meeting, in general, the challenge of teaching various ages. I mentioned that so much comes down to me and to my attitude. When I can remain calm, patient, and flexible, our days are smoother and happier. But, exactly how does one go about achieving that patience and calm? Some days, such as the one I described (in which my four-year-old was dying for glitter) we just wing it and find a middle ground that works for everyone. It’s easier now than it was just a couple of years ago. (Four-year-olds, though mercurial, are much more reasonable … Continue reading →

Blogging: An unconventional writing curriculum

A recent conversation between my two oldest girls: “What are you going to write about on your blog today?” “I’m going to post my story about the purple penguin.” “Cool! I’m going to list some of my favorite books. Do you think you’ll get any comments?” “I hope so. I love it when Daddy leaves me a comment.” “Me, too!” Our “living is learning” lifestyle incorporates a lot of real life and everyday activities as part of our curriculum. Andrea wrote about exactly this kind of thing here and here. When you homeschool, it just makes good sense to “count” … Continue reading →

Teaching various ages: the challenge

My oldest daughter is newly teen-aged. My middle daughter is ten, and my youngest is four. This can make for an interesting day. Yesterday, while Teen Daughter was struggling to make sense of something about percentages (and struggling loudly, so as to include all of us in her woes), and as Middle Daughter was explaining (to herself, out loud) that there should be four factors for this particular product, rather than three, Youngest Daughter had a question: “Mommy, can I get into the craft cupboard and get the glitter and the glue and make something fabulous?” And here you have … Continue reading →

Learning with Food Network

My co-blogger, Andrea, recently wrote about her kids’ interest in and fun with Animal Planet. Andrea mentioned that she doesn’t feel the need to limit her kids’ access to this channel, or to its parent channel, the Discovery Network. Julie chimed in and said that her family loves Animal Planet as well. When I mentioned in Andrea’s comment box that I had a post planned about another favorite educational channel, Valorie jumped in. Many of us homeschoolers are often on the same page (cue the scary music … cut to commercial for “The Stepford Homeschoolers” ….) Nah, it isn’t quite … Continue reading →