I love how you're personalizing this. I want to be a Charlotte Mason homeschooler but we actually all love workbooks and read-alouds, so that's mostly what we do. P.S. Mason was a schoolteacher but she also ran a school for teachers. The books that she wrote were for her correspondence classes. She wrote a couple of them specifically as textbooks for governesses and mothers who wanted to learn how to teach their children at home. So she actually taught mom how to be homeschoolers and I think that's very cool.
Love this! You’re my people. Most homeschooling channels I leave the video wondering why on earth they feel the need to do SO much! we do one subject of workbooks every day and unschool the rest of the time, mostly not intentionally. I have built up a library of quality literature for all my kids ages and they literally read for hours each day. After a year of this schedule I can see massive leaps of progress in their skills and knowledge so I guess it’s working 🎉
i totally resonate with the wanting to be a Charlotte Mason unschooled on so many levels, and also finding i'm truly an intentional unschooler and wildschooler at heart!
I love that you are merging these two and making it work for your family. I sometimes feel a little hurt when I am told point blank I am not really "unschooling" because of a. b. c. I believe that homeschooling is more free than that and that is one of many reasons I love homeschooling. So, I am thrilled to see you merging CM and unschooling. I tend to merge Neo-classical and unschooling with a S&P of the Charlotte Mason Philosophy. Overall remembering to keep it,"K.I.S.S." and relaxed. Thank you for your videos as they have always been and remain so encouraging ❤️
Although Charlotte was a teacher and not a homeschool mom, she wrote books on home education for parents and also trained the young tutors who would teach in homes during that time period. It is her philosophy on home education that the homeschool CM methods are based on. But the way she understood children as born persons and sought to educate the whole child is also a universal idea that all educators (at home or school) should emulate.
I guess our family is considered eclectic with our homeschooling. We were unschoolers until my daughter turned 9. After that she started expressing more desire for more structured schoolwork. At the same second child was turning 6 and wanting to learn to read and also asked for more structured school work. Now we do fix it grammar, a math curriculum and a cursive workbook for my eldest. Then my younger daughter is still technically unschooled. She does Handwriting without tears and phonics flashcards. We use games/cooking for early math skills. I use the booklists from AO, Peaceful Press, Beautiful Feet Books and a few others to do read a-louds and oral narration for all other subject type learning. I definitely see the appeal of CM and even have integrated some of her methods into our lessons, but I am not sure I could ever be a purist. We do nature study, we delay formal academic, we dabble in written and oral narration and have also started a little bit of habit training with our younger ones. BUT, I also have spent many years as an educator in the classroom and also in other more play based settings and have come to appreciate other pedagogy as well - Steiner, Montessori, Reggio Emilia, nature schooling, etc. SOOOO, this means because I am aware and have read these other philosophies, I like to pull from many of them at one time. My children don't really fit into any one of those boxes and like most children benefit from a various elements of one or another of those philosophies in any given day. Sounds like we are very similar in our conclusions. I love the wimsy of Waldorf, the hands on elements of Montessori, the idea that environment is a teacher and that children express themselves in "100 languages" in the Reggio world, the resilience and connection with nature you get from wildschooling/nature schooling and the depth of thought and appreciation of classical literature that Mason encourages.
My absolute favorite homeschool for mom book to read is Pocketful of Pinecones by Andreola. I've read it 4x already and am hoping to read it again this summer. That book always inspires me for the new year (and it's nostalgic).
I just found your video because I'm interested in merging these two! I've earned as a Charlotte Mason homeschooler, but burnt out, and fell in love with unschooling. Now I'm afraid we need more to be introduced to the kids, and I think a blend is in order!😊
I’ve actually been opposed to the Charlotte Mason method but the way you’re looking at looping and sprinkling in the different aspect (we’re already a heavy reading family and prioritize outdoor exploration) makes so much sense and holds appeal. I think it’ll work well for you guys and I love when you share your unconventional journey as it unfolds. Also so glad to hear the Littles are back again although it pulls on my heart for y’all going through that constant unknown. 🕊💕
I've done Ambleside Online for 3 years now. I always thought the history was heavy on English history. I'm taking a break from it this coming school year and trying out interest-lead learning.
First, I do love Charlotte Mason - but I guess I didn't realize how much I don't feel pressured to "follow all the rules" (which is kinda..not CM I guess). For starters, I don't believe in "twaddle". That doesn't mean I just let my kids read anything (I skim and read books before them) but, I also think reading just simply for the joy of reading is a remarkable thing. Perhaps I've just always been of the mindset of it's ok to take the bits that really work for your family, make intentional choices about what doesn't. I've always loved the idea of unschooling, but it's seemed hard for me to grasp the "how" part of it. But the idea of Charlotte Mason Inspired Unschooling makes 100% total sense. I'm feeling inspired to see how I can move in that direction. Also, I've not thought at all about group math (My kids range from Kindergarten to 9th grade), but now, I can't wait to hear about how you do that and if I can come up with a way to talk about Math as a group subject. Love it! Thanks for sharing your journey.
The only reason I like using the actual titles is because it can help me find community who homeschools in a similar style. Not that I only associate with those who homeschool in a similar way but it's nice to know someone's general philosophy if I have specific questions. If that makes any sense. Like, I'm not going to ask a classical homeschooler how they do history or the resources they use because I know that style would just not work for us. But that doesn't mean I can't be friends with classical homeschoolers.
My natural tendency is something like AO that is more structured but I’m an unschooling wannabe. I just can’t let go of the structure but I want to just be free and interest led.
I can totally relate to feeling pulled by different homeschooling methods and philosophies, my methods have changed so much over my years of homeschooling. On top of that, different stages of life dictate how much energy and mental commitment you can give to school. Keep exploring, keep learning and growing together, you're raising up wonderful people and it's all working toward something good.
If you're a podcast listener and interested in getting a crash course in the CM philosophy I highly recommend The Commonplace Podcast (she has an accompanying youtube channel). To hear from experienced CM moms I recommend "The New Mason Jar Podcast" with Cindy Rollins. She helps me understand how much GRACE there is in CM homeschooling and that helps take the pressure off to follow a rigid system. In fact, she's fond of reminding us that CM is a philosophy not a system or method. And lastly, Charlotte's 6th and final book in the Home Education series "A Philosophy of Education" is the best place to start if you want to hear from the master herself 😉 She encapsulates and even revises a lot of the information from her other books in this final book. Happy homeschooling!
Yes, I enjoy The Commonplace! I watch quite a few of her videos. I have listened to some of Cindy Rollins podcast but it's been awhile, I should check it out again, thanks for the recommendations!
Brilliant! 🤯Pretty please go more in-depth as you pull it together! I think this would be great for my daughter. My wheels are turning 🤔😂 I only have one left to homeschool and I've been struggling with finding a good fit and balance 🙏 This really has me thinking! ♥️ Can't wait for your upcoming videos!
This is exactly the same way I feel! I am very drawn to Charlotte Mason, but we are a neurodivergent family and the rigidity doesn’t work for us. We tend to fall into unschooling, but I’ve been working towards incorporating Charlotte Mason ideas into our homeschool as well.
We are also a neurodivergent family as well who schools with a blend of Charlotte Mason, Unit Study and Unschooling. If you haven’t read Modern Miss Mason I’d so highly recommend it! I used to feel like we weren’t “really” Charlotte Mason enough to be CM. But I didn’t know about the Modern Miss Mason Movement which basically means Charlotte was very progressive in her time and we should be as well that is what Leah Boden said in the book and I appreciated the inspiration of thought!! Modern Mason movement is very accepting of all kind of ways of implementing it and instead focusing on the principals like children are born persons, they deserve the best living books, nature is worth studying and education is an atmosphere among others. The book was so good on audio read by Leah herself.
I have always considered our homeschool a mash up of a CM and unschooling! This video was awesome and can't wait for future videos on this topic and to hear all about your journey!
I use ambleside online and simple Charlotte Mason. I absolutely love simple Charlotte Masons Artist study, and bible/History. Then I use Ambleside poetry Books.
I have my 2nd grader's book list split into 2. One is for the required reading that will be narrated to me, and the other is "these are optional and you dont have to narrate, but I would like you to read them." I'll probably put the optional ones in a rotation like Sally Clarkson did for her kids.
I’m also naturally unschooler because it’s just how I parent in general but I love Charlotte Mason philosophy too because it compliments my Christian values and our together time as a family. So I use a gentle feast and ambleside online as resources for some direction in some subjects. We homestead so I tend to teach things through life which can slow down any books or formal lessons that I do with my kids for reading or math. But a gentle feast does have Canada stuff so you may look into that. I like using that more because I can have a path with American history and it’s more a four year cycle.
I have always wanted to do some unschooling because I would love for my boys to find their interests and passions. However I feel like I’m not bringing enough to them because they haven’t picked anything up and gone with it but they are very young yet, 10/9/7/4, maybe I should try it again. I would love the longer list of books because I’m always running out of ideas for my 10 yr old.
One of the other things Julie said in the Summit was that she's noticed her older kids all seem to find their interests around the age of 12. So far that's proven true for my 12 year old and I'm hoping it will for the 10 year old as well!
Question: Do you have a package of the Monthly Menus available for purchase? I don't see several months on the site yet, so I was curious. Are they updated yearly, or do they stay the same?
Good question! I just started making them in November so I haven't even done them for a year so currently there is no package. And since we're taking the summer off of school I decided to not making Menu Pages for July and August. Once I've done a year of the pages I may bundle them together.
There are things I like about a few different methods too, so I'm with you on feeling pulled in different directions. The main issue I deal with most of the time is fighting between wanting to have a lot of flexibility to do our own thing and wanting a fully pre-planned curriculum so I have a lot less work to do with planning and prepping. This year, I'm trying out pre-planned curriculum for our core subjects while planning the electives myself. We'll see how that goes.
I love how you're personalizing this. I want to be a Charlotte Mason homeschooler but we actually all love workbooks and read-alouds, so that's mostly what we do. P.S. Mason was a schoolteacher but she also ran a school for teachers. The books that she wrote were for her correspondence classes. She wrote a couple of them specifically as textbooks for governesses and mothers who wanted to learn how to teach their children at home. So she actually taught mom how to be homeschoolers and I think that's very cool.
Ooh, thanks for the CM lesson!
Love this! You’re my people. Most homeschooling channels I leave the video wondering why on earth they feel the need to do SO much! we do one subject of workbooks every day and unschool the rest of the time, mostly not intentionally. I have built up a library of quality literature for all my kids ages and they literally read for hours each day. After a year of this schedule I can see massive leaps of progress in their skills and knowledge so I guess it’s working 🎉
Your schedule is exactly what I want :p first year we are gonna home school this year and trying to figure it out :p
i totally resonate with the wanting to be a Charlotte Mason unschooled on so many levels, and also finding i'm truly an intentional unschooler and wildschooler at heart!
I love that you are merging these two and making it work for your family. I sometimes feel a little hurt when I am told point blank I am not really "unschooling" because of a. b. c.
I believe that homeschooling is more free than that and that is one of many reasons I love homeschooling. So, I am thrilled to see you merging CM and unschooling.
I tend to merge Neo-classical and unschooling with a S&P of the Charlotte Mason Philosophy. Overall remembering to keep it,"K.I.S.S." and relaxed. Thank you for your videos as they have always been and remain so encouraging ❤️
I love the way you described your homeschool! And yes, simple is the way to go!
Although Charlotte was a teacher and not a homeschool mom, she wrote books on home education for parents and also trained the young tutors who would teach in homes during that time period. It is her philosophy on home education that the homeschool CM methods are based on. But the way she understood children as born persons and sought to educate the whole child is also a universal idea that all educators (at home or school) should emulate.
I guess our family is considered eclectic with our homeschooling. We were unschoolers until my daughter turned 9. After that she started expressing more desire for more structured schoolwork. At the same second child was turning 6 and wanting to learn to read and also asked for more structured school work. Now we do fix it grammar, a math curriculum and a cursive workbook for my eldest. Then my younger daughter is still technically unschooled. She does Handwriting without tears and phonics flashcards. We use games/cooking for early math skills. I use the booklists from AO, Peaceful Press, Beautiful Feet Books and a few others to do read a-louds and oral narration for all other subject type learning. I definitely see the appeal of CM and even have integrated some of her methods into our lessons, but I am not sure I could ever be a purist. We do nature study, we delay formal academic, we dabble in written and oral narration and have also started a little bit of habit training with our younger ones. BUT, I also have spent many years as an educator in the classroom and also in other more play based settings and have come to appreciate other pedagogy as well - Steiner, Montessori, Reggio Emilia, nature schooling, etc. SOOOO, this means because I am aware and have read these other philosophies, I like to pull from many of them at one time. My children don't really fit into any one of those boxes and like most children benefit from a various elements of one or another of those philosophies in any given day. Sounds like we are very similar in our conclusions. I love the wimsy of Waldorf, the hands on elements of Montessori, the idea that environment is a teacher and that children express themselves in "100 languages" in the Reggio world, the resilience and connection with nature you get from wildschooling/nature schooling and the depth of thought and appreciation of classical literature that Mason encourages.
My absolute favorite homeschool for mom book to read is Pocketful of Pinecones by Andreola. I've read it 4x already and am hoping to read it again this summer. That book always inspires me for the new year (and it's nostalgic).
I have that one too! I've only read it once so far yet, maybe this year would be a good time for a re-read.
I just found your video because I'm interested in merging these two! I've earned as a Charlotte Mason homeschooler, but burnt out, and fell in love with unschooling. Now I'm afraid we need more to be introduced to the kids, and I think a blend is in order!😊
I honestly think they'll be a great two philosophies to merge together!
I’ve actually been opposed to the Charlotte Mason method but the way you’re looking at looping and sprinkling in the different aspect (we’re already a heavy reading family and prioritize outdoor exploration) makes so much sense and holds appeal. I think it’ll work well for you guys and I love when you share your unconventional journey as it unfolds. Also so glad to hear the Littles are back again although it pulls on my heart for y’all going through that constant unknown. 🕊💕
I've done Ambleside Online for 3 years now. I always thought the history was heavy on English history. I'm taking a break from it this coming school year and trying out interest-lead learning.
First, I do love Charlotte Mason - but I guess I didn't realize how much I don't feel pressured to "follow all the rules" (which is kinda..not CM I guess). For starters, I don't believe in "twaddle". That doesn't mean I just let my kids read anything (I skim and read books before them) but, I also think reading just simply for the joy of reading is a remarkable thing. Perhaps I've just always been of the mindset of it's ok to take the bits that really work for your family, make intentional choices about what doesn't. I've always loved the idea of unschooling, but it's seemed hard for me to grasp the "how" part of it. But the idea of Charlotte Mason Inspired Unschooling makes 100% total sense. I'm feeling inspired to see how I can move in that direction. Also, I've not thought at all about group math (My kids range from Kindergarten to 9th grade), but now, I can't wait to hear about how you do that and if I can come up with a way to talk about Math as a group subject. Love it! Thanks for sharing your journey.
The only reason I like using the actual titles is because it can help me find community who homeschools in a similar style. Not that I only associate with those who homeschool in a similar way but it's nice to know someone's general philosophy if I have specific questions. If that makes any sense. Like, I'm not going to ask a classical homeschooler how they do history or the resources they use because I know that style would just not work for us. But that doesn't mean I can't be friends with classical homeschoolers.
My natural tendency is something like AO that is more structured but I’m an unschooling wannabe. I just can’t let go of the structure but I want to just be free and interest led.
I can totally relate to feeling pulled by different homeschooling methods and philosophies, my methods have changed so much over my years of homeschooling. On top of that, different stages of life dictate how much energy and mental commitment you can give to school.
Keep exploring, keep learning and growing together, you're raising up wonderful people and it's all working toward something good.
Yes, good point on the stages of life as well, Kim!
If you're a podcast listener and interested in getting a crash course in the CM philosophy I highly recommend The Commonplace Podcast (she has an accompanying youtube channel).
To hear from experienced CM moms I recommend "The New Mason Jar Podcast" with Cindy Rollins. She helps me understand how much GRACE there is in CM homeschooling and that helps take the pressure off to follow a rigid system. In fact, she's fond of reminding us that CM is a philosophy not a system or method.
And lastly, Charlotte's 6th and final book in the Home Education series "A Philosophy of Education" is the best place to start if you want to hear from the master herself 😉 She encapsulates and even revises a lot of the information from her other books in this final book.
Happy homeschooling!
Yes, I enjoy The Commonplace! I watch quite a few of her videos. I have listened to some of Cindy Rollins podcast but it's been awhile, I should check it out again, thanks for the recommendations!
In Ambleside under curriculum it says Canada version! It may be a new thing you didn't see when making this video, Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for sharing!
Brilliant! 🤯Pretty please go more in-depth as you pull it together! I think this would be great for my daughter. My wheels are turning 🤔😂 I only have one left to homeschool and I've been struggling with finding a good fit and balance 🙏 This really has me thinking! ♥️ Can't wait for your upcoming videos!
Knorpp and South also have a podcast called No Place Like Home. They have a 2 part episode called How to Raise a Genius that is so good.
I am subscribed to their podcast but haven't actually listened to it, I'll download those episodes, thanks for the heads up!
Congrats to your daughter!! So happy for her. Will be purchasing the book🎉
This is exactly the same way I feel! I am very drawn to Charlotte Mason, but we are a neurodivergent family and the rigidity doesn’t work for us. We tend to fall into unschooling, but I’ve been working towards incorporating Charlotte Mason ideas into our homeschool as well.
We are also a neurodivergent family as well who schools with a blend of Charlotte Mason, Unit Study and Unschooling. If you haven’t read Modern Miss Mason I’d so highly recommend it! I used to feel like we weren’t “really” Charlotte Mason enough to be CM. But I didn’t know about the Modern Miss Mason Movement which basically means Charlotte was very progressive in her time and we should be as well that is what Leah Boden said in the book and I appreciated the inspiration of thought!! Modern Mason movement is very accepting of all kind of ways of implementing it and instead focusing on the principals like children are born persons, they deserve the best living books, nature is worth studying and education is an atmosphere among others.
The book was so good on audio read by Leah herself.
I’d definitely be interested in some foster care videos on your personal channel, however much you’re able to share ❤
If you talk to an adult who was a former foster child or ward of the state , they could give you so much more insight.
If all goes according to plan I should have an update video there next week!
I would love this as well❤️love all your content.
I have always considered our homeschool a mash up of a CM and unschooling! This video was awesome and can't wait for future videos on this topic and to hear all about your journey!
Yep would love the entire list of books please!!
Big book lists coming up!
I use ambleside online and simple Charlotte Mason. I absolutely love simple Charlotte Masons Artist study, and bible/History. Then I use Ambleside poetry Books.
Ahhh yes please share all the books 😍
I have my 2nd grader's book list split into 2. One is for the required reading that will be narrated to me, and the other is "these are optional and you dont have to narrate, but I would like you to read them." I'll probably put the optional ones in a rotation like Sally Clarkson did for her kids.
I am feeling the same need for these two methodologies to overlap. I see this video is from last year. Did you do a video on how this went.?
Love this idea! I can’t wait to hear more on this!
I was literally looking to see if they could be merged. It seems like a good medium
I love this! I wonder if it might be a good match for me, as well. Please, keep sharing how it goes for you!
I’m also naturally unschooler because it’s just how I parent in general but I love Charlotte Mason philosophy too because it compliments my Christian values and our together time as a family. So I use a gentle feast and ambleside online as resources for some direction in some subjects. We homestead so I tend to teach things through life which can slow down any books or formal lessons that I do with my kids for reading or math. But a gentle feast does have Canada stuff so you may look into that. I like using that more because I can have a path with American history and it’s more a four year cycle.
this sounds perfect and exactly what we are aiming for here as well!
I am also wanting to combine the 2 styles . I'd love the 8th grade list but the short list my son hasn't read strongly in awhile with his autism.
Unfortunately ambleside took much to long and bored my kids and especially my older son who has autism and hates being outdoors
I'm looking forward to mixing the two styles, I think it will work well for our family and hopefully it works for yours as well!
That is currently what we are doing❤
Nice to hear others doing the same!
This is me exactly! Charlotte Mason vs. Unschooling. Lol!
I have always wanted to do some unschooling because I would love for my boys to find their interests and passions. However I feel like I’m not bringing enough to them because they haven’t picked anything up and gone with it but they are very young yet, 10/9/7/4, maybe I should try it again.
I would love the longer list of books because I’m always running out of ideas for my 10 yr old.
One of the other things Julie said in the Summit was that she's noticed her older kids all seem to find their interests around the age of 12. So far that's proven true for my 12 year old and I'm hoping it will for the 10 year old as well!
@@IntentionalHomeschooling thank you this is reassuring! I really wanted to attend your summit just didn’t work for me this time.
Question: Do you have a package of the Monthly Menus available for purchase? I don't see several months on the site yet, so I was curious. Are they updated yearly, or do they stay the same?
Good question! I just started making them in November so I haven't even done them for a year so currently there is no package. And since we're taking the summer off of school I decided to not making Menu Pages for July and August. Once I've done a year of the pages I may bundle them together.
Lol im seriously trying to the same thing!!
I love this!
There are things I like about a few different methods too, so I'm with you on feeling pulled in different directions. The main issue I deal with most of the time is fighting between wanting to have a lot of flexibility to do our own thing and wanting a fully pre-planned curriculum so I have a lot less work to do with planning and prepping. This year, I'm trying out pre-planned curriculum for our core subjects while planning the electives myself. We'll see how that goes.
This is me too❤
❤