This podcast episode focuses on answering more listener questions about the Charlotte Mason method on some widely varying topics including Bible, narration, and unit studies. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9 , Firefox , Chrome "Another point, the co-ordination of studies is carefully regulated without any reference to the clash of ideas on the threshold or their combination into appercepti...
Apr 29, 2016•21 min
Charlotte Mason had two essential tools to offer children to help them regulate their own behavior. This podcast thoroughly addresses the subject that most matters in the classroom: guiding our children in acting and thinking rightly. Nicole, Liz, and Emily unfold Mason's principles of self-control, self-management, and right reasoning. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9 , Firefox , Chrome "...
Apr 22, 2016•31 min
This Charlotte Mason podcast focuses on the subject of citizenship beyond the study of Plutarch. Are Mason's ideas about the state and the citizen outdated or irrelevant for our students today? This discussion focuses on the subject that studies government, economics, and moral responsibility in the Mason feast. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9 , Firefox , Chrome "The honour due to our cou...
Apr 15, 2016•21 min
Nancy Kelly is an experienced Charlotte Mason teacher who joins us on this podcast to discuss the teaching of Plutarch. You will enjoy her helpful tips and inspiring wisdom. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9 , Firefox , Chrome "We take the child to the living sources of history––a child of seven is fully able to comprehend Plutarch, in Plutarch's own words (translated), without any diluting...
Apr 08, 2016•24 min
Charlotte Mason thought Plutarch an invaluable source of knowledge and moral wisdom in the subject of citizenship. This podcast explores who he was, why Mason thought so, and how the study of the lives he described would inform and enrich our children. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9 , Firefox , Chrome “In the same way, readings from Plutarch's Lives will afford the best preparation for t...
Apr 01, 2016•24 min
Charlotte Mason's education is not just for children. This podcast is a discussion of three mothers who have found that Mason has influenced them in ways they never could have dreamed when they took up her methods. Listen to discover all the ways the delectable feast can nourish you, the teacher. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9 , Firefox , Chrome "The mother cannot devote herself too much...
Mar 27, 2016•37 min
This podcast addresses common questions that arise as parents and teachers pursue knowledge of the Charlotte Mason method. Whether specific small questions, or large philosophic ones, they are common to most of us and Nicole, Emily and Liz attempt to draw from the deep well of Mason's own writings, as well as their experience in applying that wisdom, to meet the most frequent perplexities head on. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version...
Mar 18, 2016•24 min
Charlotte Mason is extraordinary in the arts and humanities, but does her method really work for science, especially in an age when science is king? This podcast will address all the aspects of teaching science that put most average parents in a panic at the high school level and you will find yourself eager to get on with it. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9 , Firefox , Chrome "Our aim in...
Mar 14, 2016•40 min
This podcast episode explores the ideas and objectives Charlotte Mason considered necessary for the study of science for grades 1-6. Listen to hear clear guidelines to follow, book suggestions, and practical applications for teaching science. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9 , Firefox , Chrome If you would like to study along with us, here are some passages from The Home Education Series a...
Mar 04, 2016•21 min
Charlotte Mason did not consider nature study to be optional. This podcast is an interview with a mother with eight children who took Mason's words to heart and exerted the effort to make it happen. Listen to her experiences and practical hints for being a successful mother of young naturalists. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9 , Firefox , Chrome "Never be within doors when you can rightly...
Feb 26, 2016•23 min
This podcast episode explains Charlotte Mason's use of nature lore books and how they expand outdoor nature study work. Listen for lots of hints of our favorite such books. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9 , Firefox , Chrome "Our main dependence is on books as an adjunct to out-of-door work...In [these] books the children are put in the position of the original observer of biological and o...
Feb 19, 2016•20 min
This podcast episode explores the reasons Charlotte Mason gave for the necessity of a child's education to include a vast familiarity with the outside world. Beyond discussing why nature study is critical to knowledge of God, the benefits to personal growth, and its fundamental effects on future academic success, many practical suggestions for accomplishing this essential study are discussed to encourage your family's implementation of and regular involvement in nature study. Listen Now: If you ...
Feb 12, 2016•30 min
Our discussions on the subject of history resulted in an onslaught of questions. This podcast episode slowly and carefully addresses the most common and frequently asked history concerns, misunderstandings, and points of confusion we have received about Charlotte Mason's approach to teaching this subject. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9 , Firefox , Chrome "We introduce children as early a...
Feb 05, 2016•28 min
The scope of the subject of geography matches the size of the world it covers and Charlotte Mason's approach to this subject is likewise vast and multifaceted. This podcast episode discusses the purpose of geography study, the variety of resources used for learning, and gives a broad overview of the progression throughout forms I to VI.
Jan 22, 2016•42 min•Season 4Ep. 18
The Bible is the most authoritative and ancient of all books and Mason considered its lessons to be the supreme lesson, leading most directly to knowledge of God. This podcast explores why she was of this opinion, why we must not neglect its lessons, and how those lessons should be presented.
Jan 18, 2016•48 min•Season 5Ep. 17
Since it's impossible to cover every aspect of a subject each week, questions arise in our listeners' minds. Many of you are sending us your questions and in this podcast we attempt to thoroughly answer a few of these based on the wisdom of Charlotte Mason and our experience in using her method. This is the first of several sporadic Q&A sessions we will post. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Expl...
Jan 15, 2016•19 min
Beyond the books, what are some tools that are useful in putting history into living color for a child? At what age should we begin to use a timeline, or should we use a timeline at all? How do we implement the book of centuries? Listen in as we wrestle with some of the things that make history lessons come alive. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Explorer 9 , Firefox , Chrome If you would like to stu...
Jan 14, 2016•22 min
When we are clear in the direction we are headed in our children's history studies, know the time period and the order and the streams to cover, what books will we use to explore those unfathomable numbers of events and characters in history? Is a spine necessary? What is the real value of a biography? How much should we be concerned about the historical accuracy of the account we are reading? Explore these ideas with us in this episode. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make su...
Jan 13, 2016•23 min•Ep. 14
Merry Christmas! As we celebrate the coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ, we took a break from discussing history to bring you a special episode. Art Middlekauff shares with us a lesser-known, but very important work by Charlotte Mason herself--her poetic reflections on the Life of Christ entitled, The Saviour of the World. We hope this episode, and more importantly, these poems, will bless you and yours today and in the year to come. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure y...
Jan 12, 2016•22 min
In Mason's day, the subject of history was covered differently from our common approaches to that subject today. How do the records show she managed the study of ancient through modern history in all the age levels? More important, how can we follow her principles and keep history study relevant to our day? Emily, Nicole, and Liz attempt to distill these truths in an orderly conversation that will reveal a rich feast of history for a child. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make...
Jan 11, 2016•31 min
The subject of history brings groans to some and yawns to others, but Mason considered it the pivotal subject in her curriculum. Listen in as these moms discuss some of Charlotte Mason's beliefs about the teaching of history and why it is centrally important to the subjects that give the "Knowledge of Man" and provides much, much more than a knowledge of dates and facts of wars and famous events. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version ...
Dec 13, 2015•26 min
Whether in homeschooling, public or private schooling, the teacher finds that the appeal and wonder of narration that Charlotte Mason employed is not without its challenges. This episode addresses commonly asked questions and confusion surrounding the implementation of narration to offer some practical solutions to difficulties you may encounter in the classroom.
Dec 01, 2015•43 min•Ep. 9
Homeschooling with Charlotte Mason's method is truly a joy when employing her foundational, and unique, use of narration. This episode unpacks the basics of why children make excellent narrators and learn abundantly through building that skill, as well as some basics of how to begin and make use of "telling."
Nov 20, 2015•35 min•Ep. 8
If you desire to use living books in your children's education, but are not confident of your ability to discern which books are "living" and which are not, this episode contains the practical information you need. Criteria for determining if a book is living are described carefully, examples read, along with ways to identify and eliminate twaddle from your bookshelves. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Intern...
Nov 13, 2015•36 min
Living books are the heart of a Mason education. Education is a life, and living books are the food the mind requires for its nourishment. Liz, Emily, and Nicole share excerpts from some living books to demonstrate the power of living ideas. They discuss some reasons why living books are the richer road to engaging a child's imagination, inspire and feed their thirst for knowledge, and why textbooks do not. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most curre...
Nov 06, 2015•25 min
One thing leads to another, it is said, but the powerful interrelation of knowledge and experience Mason identified is the process we must recognize and capitalize on in teaching. She called it the "science of relations" and this episode is an animated discussion that not only defines what Mason meant, but is packed with descriptions of how these three women have observed the process at work in their children's lives. This truly is the exciting aspect of teaching, observed in themselves and thei...
Oct 30, 2015•27 min
If education is not information, what is it? How do we as teachers feed the whole person's natural desire to know? Emily, Nicole, and Liz discuss the tools to implement in education, the motto Mason took for her teachers: "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life," defining, discussing, and providing real life instances of these instruments put into practice. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Inter...
Oct 23, 2015•27 min
Charlotte Mason has a unique view of the student and the way in which he learns. This episode focuses on the role of the teacher and how his responsibilities and approach to teaching likewise take on a different perspective in her method. Nicole, Emily and Liz begin with a comparison of traditional teaching qualifications versus Mason's requirements for teachers, concluding with the life-changing help every teacher has at her disposal. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure...
Oct 16, 2015•15 min
Charlotte Mason's first principle of education is that "Children are born persons." This sounds simple, but Emily, Nicole, and Liz examine the complexity of this view and why it is unique in existing educational models and practices. They each share personal and practical examples of the difference such a concept makes for a child being educated in Mason's method. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please make sure you are using the most current version of your web browser: Internet Exp...
Oct 12, 2015•16 min
Emily Kiser of Living Books Library describes the purpose for this podcast series. Each of the three members of this discussion group introduces herself and explains how she became a homeschooling mother. Since the goal of this series is to explore the ideas of Charlotte Mason, each mother also shares how she became interested in Mason's educational method. Finally, a discussion of why schooling with a philosophical outlook is crucial ensues. Listen Now: If you are seeing this message, please ma...
Oct 09, 2015•17 min
