Poetry, Art, Plan and Map Changes

Here are my thoughts and reasons for some of the changes made to Charlotte’s Geographical Reader: Poetry.Charlotte had arranged her lessons so that a poem was, itself, a lesson. Typically, the poetry lessons would alternate with a textual lesson. Occasionally there were several poetry lessons in a row. When I followed these lessons with my children, reading one poem for a lesson was often far … Continue reading Poetry, Art, Plan and Map Changes

Title and Text Changes

Here are my thoughts and reasons for some of the changes made to Charlotte’s Geographical Reader: Title Change to Living Geography.Charlotte titled her book Geographical Reader Book I Elementary Geography. This title, rightly so, gives the connotation that this book is for the younger student. Charlotte did intend her book for a younger audience, but that does not mean an older student wouldn’t gain anything … Continue reading Title and Text Changes

For the Scouring Purists

Possibly only a Charlotte Mason purist would be interested in the revision details for Charlotte’s 1881 geography text as I transformed it into the Living Geography Book I edition. In this post I let Charlotte convince you that scouring through the details of something has its rewards. In following posts, I’ll chronicle some of the nitty gritty details about the revisions to Charlotte’s 1881 geography … Continue reading For the Scouring Purists

Memorization? Yes! a CM Educator Can Embrace it!

In reaction to the educational philosophy which centers around children learning facts and information and the superficial nature of this supposed learning, CM educators may flounder knowing if or how memory work fits into a CM Life. Although we shun memory facts for a test, and memory for spouting off as if participating in an educational production, there is a place for memorization in a … Continue reading Memorization? Yes! a CM Educator Can Embrace it!

What it is NOT, What it IS

Sometimes it takes too many words to explain what a Living Education IS. It took Charlotte Mason herself 6 books and hundreds of pages of other publications to explain and describe it. A quicker approach might be to look at it from the reverse—What it is NOT. -A Charlotte Mason Education does not use textbooks with bold words that are memorized for a test.-A Charlotte … Continue reading What it is NOT, What it IS

Ties That Bind

For a girl from Nebraska not accustomed to spanning wide bodies of water on a suspension bridge, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge a few years ago was, to say the least, thrilling.  In Nebraska most of our water ways are crossed by a mere heave-ho and a jump. Before this ride across the Golden Gate, my only encounter with this bridge was through pictures.  Frankly it never did look to me like the … Continue reading Ties That Bind