Readers Respond: What is your experience with the Charlotte Mason Method?

What about you? Do you use the Charlotte Mason Method with your children? What is your experience? Has it changed the way you homeschool? What do you like or dislike about the method? What parts do you like best? Do you feel your children receive a well-rounded education with the Charlotte Mason Method? Share Your Experience

Charlotte Mason Can Grow on You

I have a whole binder dedicated to what I've learned and benefit from in my years of home education just about this method. Today I asked for a narration from my middle daughter and casually checked off my responses as being correct as I listened. It has become familiar to narrate. Do we do it all perfectly? No. Do I try to do it all like a script? Definitely not. We marry things we enjoy with it. Like using Barry Stebbing's art books (God and the Christian Artists) with the method in a very casual way with whatever resources are handy. An old Canadian history text has beautiful artwork as illustrations we can use for study. I'm not into classical music but am willing to learn about it with my students. It takes a back bench often to other things, basics but any amount mutually enjoyed is worth it. A good living book read aloud is a guaranteed relationship builder and the foundation of our time well spent together. Simply Charlotte Mason has become a favorite online. Good principles.

—Guest Tanis

Charlotte Mason

We too have started this method this year with my 7th grader. Some of the books I can choose to be right on her reading level and others I can choose to be a little reaching which only helps to extend her learning! It has opened my eyes to how many great books are out there that I never would have been introduced to had we not tried this method.

—Guest Elysa

A More Excellent Way

I wish I had known about the Charlotte Mason method with my older children; life would have been so much easier. But thankfully, I discovered it with my youngest daughter and threw out the dry, boring textbooks in favor of “living books” – original sources being far superior to “twaddle” (dumbed-down literature). Whatever Abigail read, she retold, either orally or in written form. For the most part, she learned to write by copying quality literature, thus integrating grammar, spelling, sentence structure, and mechanics simultaneously and holistically. If I had it to do over again, I’d use CM with all my children. And, if given the chance to homeschool my grandchildren (which I’ve been contemplating quite often lately), I’d use this method with them.

—Guest Debra Elramey

Blessed to be Homeschooling

I used textbooks with my three daughters; they did very well and were all three independent learners. Ten years later when my son came along, I knew I wanted to try a different approach. My sister introduced me to the Charlotte Mason method, and after much studying and "deprogramming" my mind to what I had been taught in public school, I knew this was the direction God was leading me. It is stress-free, fun, and we have learned so much TOGETHER - and he is only in the 2nd grade! I wish that I had known about this from the very beginning; my daughters missed out on so much. It feels "natural" to learn this way! I am going to try my best to teach him using this approach all the way through high school.

—Guest Kim

We Love CM

There is no doubt that the CM method was the right fit for our family. I can only explain it as a feeling of solidity, tangibility...substance if you will. I have never before felt like the process was complete, and now I have found the missing link in CM. The emphasis on outdoor time, creativity, dictation, nature observation- all very much suited my active children. We went from stressing, boring and forced lessons at the table to happily gardening and drawing in our nature notebooks. What a gift.

—Guest J-la