My Little Robins

Loving and Learning in the Nest

What’s Our Education End Goal?

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It was bedtime and as usual, I skittered from bedroom to bedroom like a Brambly Hedge mouse. I pulled my toddler onto my lap and started reading him a story, trying to focus as sounds from my other son's bedroom drifted our way. 

The sounds of Daddy working on letters with our five-year-old.  Later I saw a paper filled with scratchy capital letters. 

Now this is probably not a big deal to most of you, but I forgot to mention that he is a reluctant five-year-old, one that I was totally content with waiting to start reading instruction until he was six or seven. 

This little episode begged me to ask the question, of my husband and myself, what's the end goal in our children's education? 

Related: Charlotte Mason Reading Instruction 

The End Goal According to the World

 It's not hard to determine what the traditional end goal is: fill your child with as many facts as possible so that they can do well in school and go to a "good" university and get a well-paying job. There is evidence of this end-goal in the two-year-old who recites their ABC's while Mom and Dad smile on proudly. We see concerned parents of three-year-olds wondering which preschool will be the most academic and offer a firmer foundation in skills. 

As a child grows, he or she is evaluated on their test skills and reading abilities, labeled as "below level" or "above the benchmark" indicating the level of worry that we should commit to that area. Thousands of dollars are poured into tutors and online programs and educational toys. 

During the high school years, even after-school activities are focused on looking good on a college application (the eradication of SAT scores as a meaningful evaluation for student achievement will further pour on the pressure for these extra-curriculars). 

And finally, if all the money and worry and labeling pays off, the child will end up in a university, where, if they acquire the prescribed knowledge and skills,  they will leave with a piece of paper that says they've graduated. If their interview skills are sharp enough, that piece of paper will translate into smaller pieces of paper, money, earned in the form of a job. 

I know I've taken a bit of writer's license to fill in the gaps of this end goal, but you can see the bare-bones of this process is to get a good school foundation, do well in school, go to college, and get a good job. I followed that system, and though it didn't exactly fail me, it left me disinterested in learning and unable to question what I was told to believe. 

Related: A Curriculum from Home Education 

But What If We Choose Homeschooling?

To choose homeschooling automatically pulls us out of this cycle, if only because we do not have the competition aspect to propel children forward. We might catch a glance of what someone else is doing on Instagram and think we need to do more, but ultimately our child's success doesn't come from how he or she measures up to their peers. 

We may very much want our children to go to college, but don't have our sights set on that when our children are five. If our young child isn't reading yet, we take a deep breath and remind ourselves that there is plenty of time, that just like potty training, this isn't a quick process and it'll begin when our child is ready. 

We focus more on the every day process of learning, because it's joyful and exciting and right, and that is also the end goal: to learn. We want our children to learn for knowledge's sake, not for college's sake. 

Related: Children are Born Persons

Home Education Goals

Related: Why My Kids Are Out of Control: Charlotte Mason's 4th Principle

Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Goals

 In Charlotte Mason's vision. we are guided by three tools of education: 

Atmosphere, discipline, and life. 

Competition does not fall within the umbrella of these tools. Neither does forcing facts into our child's mind. 

Instead, these tools teach us that we can create an atmosphere of learning, by valuing it, and placing our children in front of things worth knowing. 

We can create a discipline of learning by instilling habits in our children that will encourage them to keep learning and growing as human beings. 

A life of learning is developed by recognizing that knowledge is food for the mind, so we present it through living books and opportunities. 

While using these tools, we can't help but for our goals to be different. Instead of competition and college, we hope for 

1. Enjoyment of learning

2. The ability to continue learning

3. Knowledge of God, the universe, and people 

In School Education, Charlotte Mason gave us a much-repeated quote about education. The goal of education is to set our children's feet in a large room, giving them many joyful experiences that they can grow upon. 


“Children make large demands upon us. We owe it to them to initiate an immense number of interests. ‘Thou hast set my feet in a large room,’ should be the glad cry of every intelligent soul. Life should be all living, and not merely a tedious passing of time; not all doing or all feeling or all thinking- the strain would be too great- but, all living; that is to say, we should be in touch wherever we go, whatever we hear, whatever we see, with some manner of vital interest." School Education, page 170 

In short, the process of learning should be enjoyable, and not solely focused on the outcome. 

In Our Home

Our children might go to college, and that isn't wrong. But the road to get there should be enjoyable, "all living." Pushing our children along before they are ready, or setting learning up as a competition, isn't going to produce a long-term love of learning. 


Our 2020 Homeschool Year in Hindsight

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When I pieced together our curriculum last year, I had no idea what we had in store!  None of us could have imagined the turn of events in the spring. Despite the strange ending, it was a year filled with emotional and intellectual growth. There were a few things we tweaked along the way, and a few things that we loved. I've been making mental notes to share with you, but I'm generally moving slower through life these days. 

What we've learned this year will help me make decisions for next year's curriculum. And maybe it will help you make some decisions, too. To see the curriculum we pieced together last year, go here.

I've used affiliate links to share some of our homeschool resources with you. Read more about these in my policies. 


Takeaways from our Homeschool Year

1. We were literature HEAVY

I know that it is a wonderful thing to be literature heavy. At the same time, though, it seemed that we were riding a tricycle with one of the back wheels missing. We were searching for balance, but it couldn't be found with our curriculum. A little math showed me that we spent at least three times as much reading living books than we do studying math or science. And, some of our "science lessons" (nature study) involved reading through the Burgess Bird Book. 

Charlotte Mason said, in reference to math, that one subject shouldn't be valued higher among the others. That makes a lot of sense to me in a whole, well-rounded person sort of way, but not in a modern world way. Math, and its counterpart science, are literally more valuable when it comes to jobs of the future and how much they will pay. While this is not my only goal of education, it is one of them. My husband the architect is adamant that our children could have these jobs if they wanted them.  

The public school system tends to build members of society that are strong in language arts, or strong in math and science. Maybe some of this is naturally ocurring, but what if it's possible to raise children who are strong with the so-called "left-brain skills" and "right-brain skills?" 

Takeaway: Next year, we'll add in a bit more science, and we'll be more consistent with nature study. 

2. And speaking of language arts heavy...

About half way through the homeschool year, Miss H realized that she didn't know how to write as well as her peers. We've spent plenty of time actually writing through copywork and her handwriting book, but she specifically asked me to teach her how to use capitals, periods, and "things like that." I know that interest-led learning is not a part of Charlotte Mason's plans, except for in free time during the afternoon, but this seemed different to me. She wasn't asking to learn about something silly and extra, she asked to learn a core subject area that I hadn't included. 

You can imagine how terrible this made me feel. She had no idea why I wasn't teaching her these skills, and "because Charlotte Mason said so" didn't seem like a strong enough answer. So in the middle of the year, I searched for a language arts curriculum. I decided on Language Lessons for a Living Education, and to be honest with you, it isn't my favorite. We bought the second grade curriculum, but it was not challenging enough at all. She soon tired of writing CVC words, and the stories included were dull. 

Takeaway: I'm letting her have some say in what we're learning. In the next school year, we'll use a language arts curriculum that fits us better (I'll share what we're going to use soon!) 

3. Come up with a new plan.

If this school year taught me anything, it's that we, as homeschooling moms, have to be flexible. I tend to make plans and hold tight to them, but this year, I had to loosen my grip quite a bit. My children's emotional needs were more important than the schedule. I added in some more read-alouds, and more lessons that my middle child could join us in, too. We did part of Playful Pioneers from the Peaceful Press (and will pick up the rest in the fall!) to add something delightfully different into our days. We watched more educational TV than normal, and spent more hours outside. It reminded me a bit of those sacred early years, where the expectations were low but curiosity was high. 

At the same time, I felt so grateful that we already had habits and rhythms established so that it didn't feel like the rug was pulled out from underneath us in March. We were able to finish what we needed to do, even while altering our flow a bit. 

Takeaway: Relish flexiblity in homeschooling.

Books we loved 

Fairy Tales Every Child Should Know by Hamilton Wright Mabie

The Family Under the Bridge by Natalie Savage Carlson 

Linnea in Monet's Garden by Christina Bjork

Benjamin Franklin by Ingri and Edgar D'Aulaire

Books we enjoyed a little less

The Book of Indians by Holling C Hollings

Books that disappeared

We didn't make it through the Burgess Bird Book, because it went missing sometime in the spring. I had all of our books out to catalog our library, and I'm wondering if the littlest wandered off with it! I decided to include this random category because I can't really make a judgment on this book since we didn't finish reading it!  

Soon I'll share with you what we'll use next homeschool year, which amazing starts in about a month! 



The Key To Homeschooling For Christian Moms

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Humans like easy.

This is scientifically proven, and I believe it's why God created us to be creatures of habit: habits make things easy and take decision making away. 

For those same reasons, so many homeschool moms look for what will be easiest for them: the open-and-go curriculum, the habit-training advice, or the blog or business that can tell them just what to do. Whatever makes it easy. 

But, is it possible that in the quest for easy, we overlook our biggest Homeschooling Advocate: the Holy Spirit?

Habits for the Early Years: A Mother's Journal

Charlotte Mason's 20th Principle

Charlotte Mason's 20th principle is probably my favorite. She said: 

 "We allow no separation to grow up between the intellectual and 'spiritual' life of children, but teach them that the Divine Spirit has constant access to their spirits, and is their Continual Helper in all the interests, duties and joys of life."

For the Christian mom, this principle brings comfort and peace of mind. We no longer have to agonize over our decisions, over the books we choose to read with our children, and whether or not we are qualified to homeschool. 

Charlotte Mason believed so strongly in this principle, that she called it the "mothers' key" to education: 

"In the things of science, in the things of art, in the things of practical everyday life, his God doth instruct him and doth teach him, her God doth instruct her and doth teach her. Let this be the mother's key to the whole of the education of each boy and each girl; not of her children; the Divine Spirit does not work with nouns of multitude, but with each single child." School Education, page 273

But many of us stand with this key in hand, refusing to use it to unlock the door. We know that we can turn to the Holy Spirit for help, but instead we turn to social media, we hesitate, and we don't trust. 

What if all Christian homeschooling moms decided to tune out some of the loud voices shouting their dissent, and instead tuned into the Holy Spirit? 

Can you imagine the transformation we'd see in our own hearts and others? I've been thinking about this topic for years, and I truly believe that if we let the Holy Spirit guide out homeschools, we'd find peace in many areas. 

Charlotte Mason's First Principle: Children are Born Persons

1. Making Decisions

I try not to get too caught up in the question of what Charlotte Mason would have us do in certain situations. I don't agonize over decisions about what books we should read or at what age to include copywork. Instead, I pray about what the Holy Spirit would have me do. Sometimes, what I do is not directly in line with what Charlotte Mason would say, but in the end, I'm answering to God and not to Charlotte Mason. 

When I taught my daughter to read at the age of 5.5, I knew some people would disagree with my decision. But thankfully, it wasn't about them. It was about seeking guidance from the Holy Spirit and doing what I felt called to do. Teaching H to read slightly earlier than Charlotte Mason recommended ended up being a blessing to our entire family. My little girl was thrilled with her new knowledge, and  her little siblings loved having a new person in the home to read to them. 

Why My Kids are Out of Control

2. Feeling Qualified

Many of us don't feel qualified to homeschool our children, maybe academically or spiritually. But, if we hang onto this: "her God doth instruct her and teacher her" from the quote above, we can feel confidently qualified. As I said in a recent Thinking Love podcast episode, it isn't a matter of how qualified we are, but who qualifies us to homeschool. 

If we understand that the Holy Spirit is on our side, that the knowledge given by him is infinite and more complete than any college degree, then we can rest in our Qualifier. 

3. Learning and Teaching Hard Things

We all have areas that we've struggled with in the past. Math never clicked for me as a child, and I carried that unsettling, "I am a math failure" feeling through the first few years of my teaching career.  We can either let these feelings overwhelm us and outsource these subjects to other people, or we can hold the key in our hand, and use it to give us God-confidence, knowing that we can learn and grow just as our children do. 

Understanding that the Holy Spirit is the Divine Teacher also allows us to mess up. If we don't relate a subject perfectly, your child's understanding of it doesn't entirely rest on your efforts. The Divine Teacher can, and will, use you, books, other people, and your child's own mind to deepen their knowledge. 

20 Principles Study Guide

4. Getting Along

I will touch on this final area gently. It's no secret that there's tension in the homeschooling community. When someone makes a decision that's different than ours, sometimes our defenses go up. We sometimes feel that it diminishes our own decisions if someone else chooses another path. But why? 

 I love how Charlotte Mason said, in the passage above, that the Holy Spirit works with individuals, not with multiples, and this applies to mothers as well as children. If we believe that the Holy Spirit can guide different people in different directions, then there is no reason to view others' decisions in a negative light.

He is carving out a unique path for your homeschooling journey, and it is yours if you are willing to accept it.  



Charlotte Mason Handwriting in the Modern World

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You probably know that I interpret Charlotte Mason's words with much grace. I take into account cultural differences, what materials were available in her day, and how God personally convicts me in different areas. Handwriting is an area that has changed immensely in 100 years. Not only are its purposes very different, the means in which we can practice handwriting have greatly improved. Move over, chalk and slate, hello, printable pages! 

Over the past 6 weeks, I've been going over Charlotte Mason's recommendations in Home Education. I am only discussing recommendations in this volume, although she does have many more recommendations in her other volumes, in PNEU schedules, journal articles, etc. You can find the rest of the posts in this series here. 

In Home Education, Charlotte Mason described how to teach handwriting. I'll explain her recommendations, and also share how I'm choosing to approach this area. 

Related: Handwriting During the Early Years

Handwriting

"First, let the child accomplish something perfectly in every lesson--a stroke, a pothook, a letter. Let the writing lesson be short; it should not last more than five or ten minutes. Ease in writing comes by practice; but that must be secured later. In the meantime, the thing to be avoided is the habit of careless work --humpy m's, angular o's." Home Education, pages 233-234

In this volume, Charlotte Mason recommended practicing letters on a blackboard. First, the child practices printing letters in isolation- capitals first, then lower case letters. The letters should be formed beautifully before moving on. Next, the child begins practicing groups of letters to form simple words. She gives the examples of "man" and "aunt." 

But, Charlotte Mason also recommended a handwriting book, called A New Handwriting. This handwriting was beautiful and necessary "for the distinctly commonplace writing taught from existing copy-books, however painstaking and legible, cannot but have a rather vulgarising effect both on the writer and the reader of such manuscript." Home Education, page 236

She recommended having the child copy the plates on their chalkboard, then with paper and pencil, and finally, with pen and ink.  I wonder, though, if she had been presented with today's technology of one-time-use books, like we have today, if a handwriting book would have been acceptable to her? I imagine it would! 

A Note on Copywork

Copywork, or transcription, is often described as the only handwriting practice that children need. While this might be a recommendation in her later works, in Home Education, Charlotte Mason said that transcription (writing a passage out beautifully) should begin at ages seven or eight. 

"The earliest practice in writing proper for children of seven or eight should be, not letter writing or dictation, but transcription, slow and beautiful work, for which the New Handwriting is to be preferred, though perhaps some of the more ornate characters may be omitted with advantage." Home Education, page 238

Home Education Curriculum: Handwriting

I agonized over several handwriting books before making my choice. Finally, I chose The Good and The Beautiful Handwriting books, levels 1 and 2. I like how the exercises aren't extremely monotonous, that there are pictures to color to help develop muscles necessary for handwriting, and, as Miss H begins to write words and phrases, they are meaningful (often Bible verses.) 

I also considered Handwriting without Tears (affiliate link) as I had experience with it as a teacher, but I ultimately decided that the latter curriculum was, well, more beautiful. 

Finding handwriting worksheets online is also an option. If you feel adventurous, you can even create your own handwriting worksheets! 

Charlotte Mason Math From Home Education

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Math is an area that is all abuzz in the Charlotte Mason community. To tell you the truth, I chose our math curriculum before digging into Home Education again. I picked the curriculum that I used as a teacher. Our situation is somewhat unique, because I would love to send my children to the school where I once taught. If that happens, I would like my children to have experience with the curriculum they use. 

If anything, reading about math in Home Education assured me that Charlotte Mason's recommendations aren't there to be followed as a recipe. This idea stood out to me because after she gave her recommendations for teaching math, she recommended a math curriculum that looked very, very different than what she said. So, as you choose a math curriculum, know that we can have grace for ourselves, as Charlotte Mason had grace. 

You can see the rest of this series, which outlines a curriculum based solely off of Home Education, here.

Math

"The chief value of arithmetic, like that of the higher mathematics, lies in the training it affords the reasoning powers, and in the habits of insight, readiness, accuracy, intellectual truthfulness it engenders. " Home Education, page 254

I've used affiliate links in this section to share some resources with you. You can learn more about these links in my policies. 

Math instruction, according to this volume, begins with simple math problems that children can do on their own. Charlotte Mason said that these problems are within a child's grasp. These lessons serve as a little warm up to get ideas moving, yet they don't focus on merely sums. They set up a story problem that will require a child to think through it. 

After this opportunity to complete a problem, the skill is demonstrated using what are now called math manipulatives. Charlotte Mason recommended beans, but there are now so many options. I like Unifix cubes, although so do my toddlers, and they end up all over the house. 

We can demonstrate the skills before introducing more challenging problems. Here is an example: 

"A boy had twice ten apples; how many heaps of 4 could he make?' He will be able to work with promiscuous numbers, as 7+5-3. If he must use beans to get his answer, let him; but encourage him to work with imaginary beans, as a step towards working with abstract numbers. Carefully graduated teaching and daily mental effort on the child's part at this early stage may be the means of developing real mathematical power, and will certainly promote the habits of concentration and effort of mind." Home Education, page 257

Charlotte Mason continued to describe learning about money, and weight and measurement. 

The modern-day curriculum that she mentioned was ABC Arithmetic, which seems to appear under the name The Science and Art of Arithmetic (perhaps Charlotte Mason mentioned the teacher version, and now only the students' version is available.) If you take a look at the book, you'll see why it doesn't seem to exactly follow Charlotte Mason's recommendations. It begins with Roman numerals, and then is off into different forms of notation, that as well as being mostly unnecessary today, would be very confusing to teach a young child who does not yet understand counting, let alone multiplication. Saying, 1 is 10 and 3 is 11 would most likely do nothing more than confuse a child who is still developing number sense. 

Home Education Curriculum: Math 

Singapore Math- Similar to Charlotte Mason's approach, this math program moves from a problem demonstrated in a concrete way, to a pictorial representation, then moves to the standard notation. Some say that this curriculum "is not Charlotte Mason," but those statements are always subjective. Charlotte Mason wanted US to decide whether something fit into her principles or not, which is why she gave us Four Tests for Lessons. 

Other Math Options:

MEP- This is a free, online math curriculum that many people think highly of. It seems to do a good job of establishing number sense for young children. The lesson guide is also free, so you really only need to print it out. 

I hesitate to recommend other math curricula that I haven't personally looked at. There are several more that I've used and have seen as a teacher, but that I wouldn't necessarily recommend. 


Charlotte Mason math, from Home Education

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