Books on the Charlotte Mason Method {Day 5 Friday Favorites}

Welcome to day 5 of the Homeschool Review Crew Homeschool Encouragement blog hop.  Today the Crew will be sharing their Favourite Homeschool items. I am a paper girl at heart and as such love to be surrounded by beautiful books.  On Monday I shared how I am pursuing a deeper understanding of the Charlotte Mason method of education by reading The Original Home Schooling Series.  Today I would like to share a list of books written by other's who are implementing Charlotte Mason in their homes today.

A Charoltte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola

Karen Andreola introduced me to the practical side of a Charlotte Mason education and A Charlotte Mason Companion soon become my favourite home schooling resource and is one that I recommend to any homeschool Mom who asks me which books I would recommend they read.

This beautifully illustrated book is full of encouragement and how to chapters. Karen covers practical topics like: The Art of Narration, Mother Culture, Shakespeare and Dickens. Topics of Art and Music appreciation along with Grammar, History, Nature Study and a few more kernels of wisdom.  A beautiful book full of gorgeous line illustrations.

Purchase this book from Book Depository, Amazon. For online encouragement meet Karen over at Moments with Mother Culture.

Consider This: Charlotte Mason and the Classical Tradition by Karen Glass.

I highly recommend you read this gem from Karen Glass. This thought provoking book helps you to understand the back ground to Charlotte Mason's methods.  Once you understand the underlying motivational principles you will be better equipped to make appropriate choices for your home school using Charlotte Mason's philosophy.

Consider This is availaible for purchase from Book Depository.

The Living Page : Keeping Notebooks with Charlotte Mason by Laurie Bestvater

Laurie has done an incredible job of researching every type of notebook mentioned in Charlotte's writings.  Within The Living Page you will discover not only the different types of notebooks used but why they were used, how they were used and when they were used within Charlotte's school and the PNEU.  This book changed my perspective on Notebooking and Timelines.

You can purchase it from Book Depository.

 

Know and Tell The Art of Narration by Karen Glass

One of the fundamental aspects of a Charlotte Mason education is the Art of Narration. Karen shares the theory behind the use of narration and then provides us with a step by step guide on how to implement this wonderful tool within your home school. She not only tells us how to implement narration but provides examples  and resources to help you use narration successfully within your home.

Purchase Know and Tell from Book Depository.

A Charlotte Mason Education: A Home Schooling How-to Manual by Catherine Levison

Catherine has shared her collection of the key points of Charlotte Mason's methods.  She shares practical and easy to understand insights to empower families to begin using Charlotte's methods within their home schools.

Purchase this book from the Book Depository as well as the sequal More Charlotte Mason Education : A Homeschooling How-to Manual.

Books written by Charlotte Mason

• Charlotte Mason's Elementary Geography 
• Towards a Philosophy of Education: Volume VI 
• Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series 
• Completed Six Volume boxed series: The Original Homeschooling Series.
• The Original Home Schooling Series by Charlotte Mason Hardback

• The Original Home Schooling Series 6-in-1 Omnibus Edition
• Book 1 - Home Education
• Book 2 - Parents and Children
• Book 3 - School Education
• Book 4 - Ourselves
• Book 5 - Formation of Character
• Book 6 - Towards a Philosophy of Education

The Original Home Schooling Series can also be purchased from

• Living Book Press
  • The Complete Home Education Series (6 Books) – Charlotte Mason
  • The Complete Home Education Series (6 Books) – Charlotte Mason (PDF).
• Amazon
• The Original Home Schooling Series: Study Edition by Simply Charlotte Mason

To find out more about the different published versions please watch this Video Review Comparing the NEW printed versions of Charlotte Mason Homeschooling Series by Brandy from AfterThoughts Blog.

If you are looking for others who are following Charlotte's Methods and sharing about their journeys be sure to take a look at this blog post: 10 Charlotte Mason blogs to follow

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This post is part of the Homeschool Review Crew 5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop.

Grab a cuppa and be prepared to be motivated for the year ahead.  Here are a few of the participants of this years blog hop.  Be sure to take a look at some of the posts shared by our wonderful home educating mom's.

• Nicole @ Bless Their Hearts Mom
• Patti @ Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy
• Rebekah @ There Will Be a $5 Charge For Whining
• Rodna @ Training Children up for Christ
• Stacy @ A Homemakers Heart
• Tess @ Circling Through This Life
• Wendy @ Life at Rossmont
• Yvie @ Gypsy Road

Week 2: What are your plans and goals for 2016?

This week I'm playing catch up with the Australian Mum's Encouraging Mums blog hop.  I had so many good intentions and not enough time in my week to follow through. Last week Monday I shared about how I stayed blogging and all the why's and in week two Belinda asked: What are your goals for different areas of your life, including homeschooling? Hmm I am not really an active goal setting kind of person so these questions have been a lot harder to answer than I initially thought they would be.

What worked for you last year – and what didn’t – and what you are going to change

• Changing our homeschool to more of a Charlotte Mason philosophy has really worked.
• Having too flexible a schedule really did not work.  I was trying to avoid a schedule because I thought it would help bring about a more peaceful day around here because of Aspergers Syndrome.  It did not.  Children on the spectrum really need routine to keep things peaceful and they need just enough change to learn flexibility.
• This year I want more of a rhythm to our day than a rigid schedule and that is what I'm aiming for.

Share your week’s schedule/plan – or share the stories from one day this week

• Last month I shared the day in the life of homeschooling an only.

Share how you plan your day/week/year – how do you find your priorities

• That's an interesting question.  This year I'm aiming for more of a daily rhythm in our homeschool.  As a result we are still working our way towards finding our perfect happy flow.  At present we follow breakfast with kitchen cleaning chores followed with school reading work with physical activity breaks. 
• We are aiming to attend a minimum of ONE field trip a month.  No amount of book work could ever substitute a field trip and what immersion in an experience brings to learning.
• Our homeschool group is also aiming to have one day a month where we get together for an afternoon of fellowship.
• I'd like to start piano lessons for Nathaniel and I this year too but I will leave that for term two. 

Share how you stay motivated to stay on track with your goals

• In one word:  FRIENDSHIP.  I love my homeschool friends they keep me accountable by asking me how it is going.  They inspire me to be a better home schooling Mom.  
• New homeschool Mom's  I love to attend any meeting of new home educating families.  Their enthusiasm and passion re-ignite my zeal and fill me with the courage to continue this journey and finish it well.
• INSTAGRAM.  I love to look through the photographs of other home educating families and be inspired to dig out long forgotten resources and use them. 

Blessings

Chareen

Places to Explore near Melbourne

One of the things I enjoy about home educating is the opportunity to make use of the things within our community in order to make use of immersion learning. The second thing I love about this life style is the opportunity to meet families from around the world which in turn encourages us to explore local places and 'show' our guests a little piece Australia.

Michelle from Homeschooling Down Under and Belinda from Live Life with Your Kids have invited us to show you our little piece of Australia. In our 'back yard' we have a number of gorgeous places to visit and today I would like to introduce four of them to you.

1. Victorian State Rose Garden

This is a little piece of heaven earth-side.  The garden beds are arranged in the shapes of rose petals and filled with roses from around the world.

Photographs do not do the Rose Garden justice.  The Rose Garden is open every day of the year to the public and entrance is free.

2. The Mansion

Here is a place you can spend a full day and not see everything there is to see.  Entrance to The Mansion property is FREE but if you would like to look inside the historical home there is a small fee.  Walking through these gardens is magnificent.  The trees are enormous and the grounds are beautifully kept. Continue round the back and you will walk into history.  The farming part of the mansion is still there to take a look at.  If you like art there is also a sculpture walk to enjoy.

3. Werribee Open Range Zoo

A visit to us is not complete without experiencing a little piece of Africa or the Werribee Open Range Zoo.  Paul works here and if you'd like to meet his serval be sure to attend a presentation (You can watch Paul introduce serval at a night zoo presentation on YouTube).  Depending on the time of year the zoo is open after dark (Night Zoo) and during summer for Rhythm of Africa.

 You can also meet many of the animals up close and personal.

4.Geelong

 Geelong is a beautiful waterfront city not far from our home.  There are a number of museums and areas to explore here.  Among them the Wool Museum which often has exhibitions on.

If you all looking for some family friendly things to do in Melbourne do not forget to check out this post: 10 Family Friendly Places to Experience in Melbourne Australia 

Blessings
Chareen