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Home Education
A Review of Classical Academic Press’ French for Children {Plus a Giveaway!}

[dropcap]M[/dropcap]oozle, my ten year old, has been learning French informally for a few years, mostly by listening to French folksongs and copying French phrases into her notebook. This has worked quite well up until recently. Her pronunciation sounds natural, and she speaks the French she knows with confidence, but I knew that it was time she started a more formal programme. This was easier said than done. We’ve had a chequered history in the foreign language department in our home, Continue Reading…
January 20, 2016
Educational Philosophy, Home Education
Myth: Charlotte Mason means you never use a textbook … ever.

If you were to ask for the distinguishing features of a Charlotte Mason education, the use of ‘living books’ would be high on the list. If you were to ask what makes a book living, you would no doubt hear numerous and perhaps conflicting opinions. But if you asked for an example of a living book, I’d be surprised if a textbook was among the offerings. In fact, Charlotte Mason believed that there are four ways to destroy the desire Continue Reading…
October 28, 2014
Educational Philosophy, Home Education
Myth: Charlotte Mason doesn’t work for high school.

BY CAROL HUDSON The reasons mostly commonly given for not using the Charlotte Mason method in high school are variations of the following: It is not rigorous enough. It is too laid back and casual and doesn’t stretch the student I’ll need to put together my own curriculum A traditional textbook method is needed to prepare students for exams and higher education. These three reasons overlap in my mind and say something to this effect: “CM is not rigorous enough Continue Reading…
October 21, 2014
Educational Philosophy, Home Education, Mother's Education
31 Days of Charlotte Mason: Plutarch

I didn’t need much convincing to implement most of Charlotte Mason’s educational ideas but I did think that including the study of Plutarch was rather random. Who was this guy anyhow? And as one of my sons remarked, ‘Why do I have to do Plutarch when I’m not studying that time period?’ Plutarch was a Greek historian who lived c. AD 46-120 and is mostly known for writing Parallel Lives (also known as Plutarch’s Lives), a series of biographies of Continue Reading…
October 17, 2013