Joy and Nicole talk about the challenges and joys of doing nature study in a homeschool setting. They talk about getting started when you don't know the names of anything and how to help older children engage. Grab Nicole's free nature study starter guide here: https://sabbathmoodhomeschool.com/hipJoin the Screen Free Kids Get Outside Challenge: https://www.howeverimperfectly.com/ScreenFreeChallengeStart the 5-day Nature Journal challenge here: https://www.howeverimperfectly.com/opt-in...
Jun 21, 2025•33 min
Principal #20: “We allow no separation to grow up between the intellectual and ‘spiritual’ life of children, but teach them that the divine spirit has constant access to their spirits, and is their continual helper in all the interests, duties, and joys of life.” Get the reflection questions and resources that go with this episode over on However Imperfectly on Substack here....
Jun 13, 2025•19 min
Principle #19: Therefore, children should be taught, as they become mature enough to understand such teaching, that the chief responsibility which rests on them as persons is the acceptance or rejection of ideas. To help them in this choice we give them principles of conduct, and a wide range of the knowledge fitted to them. These principles should save children from some of the loose thinking and heedless action which cause most of us to live at a lower level than we need. Head over to However ...
May 30, 2025•17 min
Principle #18: “The way of reason: We teach children, too, not to 'lean (too confidently) to their own understanding'; because the function of reason is to give logical demonstration (a) of mathematical truth, (b) of an initial idea, accepted by the will. In the former case, reason is, practically, an infallible guide, but in the latter, it is not always a safe one; for, whether that idea be right or wrong, reason will confirm it by irrefragable proofs.” Vol 6, Mason To see the reflection questi...
May 17, 2025•19 min
“There are two guides to moral and intellectual self-management to offer to children, [the first] we may call 'the way of the will'... The way of the will: Children should be taught, (a) to distinguish between 'I want' and 'I will.' (b) That the way to will effectively is to turn our thoughts from that which we desire but do not will. (c) That the best way to turn our thoughts is to think of or do some quite different thing, entertaining or interesting. (d) That after a little rest in this way, ...
May 03, 2025•21 min
"A single reading is insisted on, because children have naturally great power of attention; but this force is dissipated by the re-reading of passages, and also, by questioning, summarizing, and the like." **If you want to be effective with your Nature Study work, check out my Nature Study Hacking Guides at www.howeverimperfectly.com . Learn how to get outside and use those lovely nature journals which will help you and your children cultivate the habit of attention with ease.**...
Apr 18, 2025•18 min
Principles 14- Narration: The Art of Telling Back: “As knowledge is not assimilated until it is reproduced, children should 'tell back' after a single reading or hearing: or should write on some part of what they have read.” (Vol. 6, xxix) Check out the sample narrations and reflections questions over at However Imperfectly on Substack. **If you want to be effective with your Nature Study work, check out my Nature Study Hacking Guides at www.howeverimperfectly.com . Learn how to get outside and ...
Apr 04, 2025•17 min
Principle #13 “In devising a SYLLABUS for a normal child, of whatever social class, three points must be considered: (a) He requires much knowledge, for the mind needs sufficient food as much as does the body. (b) The knowledge should be various, for sameness in mental diet does not create appetite (i.e., curiosity). (c) Knowledge should be communicated in well-chosen language, because his attention responds naturally to what is conveyed in literary form.” (Vol. 6) Read and find links on However...
Mar 21, 2025•15 min
Have you ever wondered how to help your child truly love learning? In our latest podcast episode and Substack article, we dive into Charlotte Mason’s Principle #12: Education is a Science of Relations. Children are born with a natural desire to connect—with ideas, history, nature, art, and even the materials they use in their hands. Our role as parents and educators is not to force information upon them but to introduce them to a vast world of meaningful relationships. Whether it’s through books...
Mar 07, 2025•17 min
“But we, believing that the normal child has powers of mind which fit him to deal with all knowledge proper to him, give him a full and generous curriculum; taking care only that all knowledge offered him is vital, that is, that facts are not presented without their informing ideas.” Read the article and get the reflection questions over on Substack . This episode is sponsored by Nature Study Hacking. Head over to NatureStudyHacking.com to learn more....
Feb 21, 2025•17 min
“Such a doctrine as e.g. the Herbartian, that the mind is a receptacle, lays the stress of education (the preparation of knowledge in enticing morsels duly ordered) upon the teacher. Children taught on this principle are in danger of receiving much teaching with little knowledge; and the teacher’s axiom is, ‘what a child learns matters less than how he learns it.” Read the article and get the reflection questions over on Substack . This episode is sponsored by Nature Study Hacking. Head over ...
Feb 07, 2025•18 min
Feeding the mind as we do the body is the role of education. Read the article and get the reflection questions over on Substack . This episode is sponsored by Nature Study Hacking. Head over to NatureStudyHacking.com to learn more....
Jan 24, 2025•12 min
“Education is a life. That life is sustained on ideas. Ideas are of spiritual origin, and God has made us so that we get them chiefly as we convey them to one another, whether by word of mouth, written page, Scripture word, musical symphony; but we must sustain a child's inner life with ideas as we sustain his body with food.” Read the transcript and the reflection questions here . This episode is sponsored by Nature Study Hacking guides. Learn how to get outside and use a nature journal. Head o...
Jan 10, 2025•23 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Habit training is more than a tool for managing behavior; it is the cornerstone of character formation, equipping children with the discipline, virtue, and moral strength to govern themselves well and to make decisions toward what is right. Read the Reflection Questions that go with this episode on Substack.
Dec 06, 2024•16 min
On the wayside of the Appalachian Mountains sits a charming stone church, with a bell tower that no longer rings and a simple stained-glass window above the pulpit. The interior is warm, with chocolatey wood contrasting the stone walls. While the church is beautiful, it is the atmosphere of love and genuine welcome from the people that makes it truly special. When you attend, you’ll be greeted with smiles and care, and that warmth comes not just from the surroundings but from the hearts of the c...
Dec 05, 2024•14 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Principle #5 Seeing that we are limited by the respect due to the personality of children we can allow ourselves but three educational instruments––the atmosphere of environment, the discipline of habit and the presentation of living ideas. Our motto is: "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life." Read the transcript and see the reflection questions on Substack
Dec 03, 2024•12 min•Season 2Ep. 5
This fourth principle builds upon the third which reminds us that we have authority over our children, and they have a duty to be teachable. So, the key to understanding the limits of our authority comes from humble reliance on God and walking in the ways of good living laid out in scriptures. Recognizing our own weaknesses and need for God’s help allows us to maintain a posture of sympathy for our children’s weaknesses which is the key to truly guiding and directing our children toward a good l...
Oct 25, 2024•28 min•Season 2Ep. 4
In God’s wisdom He places children in… not daycare facilities, nor schools… He places them in families - the foundation of human society and the bedrock of human flourishing. The home is the best growing place for a child. It is here children learn good manners, right and wrong, and how to restrain the urge to wallop one’s brother. Parents are in charge. We didn’t come up with this. We know we are vastly under qualified to teach our children about the Righteousness of God, but someone must teach...
Oct 11, 2024•20 min•Season 2Ep. 3
This is the most controversial of Mason's Principles. Join me as we look at what this principle is telling us about the natural laws of education, namely that there is good and evil in the world and what that means for moms and teachers of children being raised in the 21st Century. Mason wants mothers to understand the natural laws that affect our children and hinder or help our work as mothers so that we will joyfully fulfill our God-given role to guide and direct our them. Read on Substack and...
Sep 27, 2024•32 min•Season 2Ep. 3
There’s nothing more humbling than holding a freshly born babe complete with those glorious first cries and skin so soft it feels like you are touching heaven itself. Looking at that face for the first time, seeing those baby rolls, and thinking about all the possibilities ahead for this dear one make those dawning moments touch the divine and help us to come into contact with the miraculous nature of human life. Motherhood begins with many hopes, there are some fears, to be sure, but we get the...
Sep 13, 2024•27 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Welcome to Season #2 of the However Imperfectly Podcast. This season we will be diving into Charlotte Mason’s 20 Principles because they help us see our children and our goals for their education clearly. Getting to know these principles encourages us to move from mechanically implementing booklists, checklists, and systems to educate our children and toward being fully alive to our own duties given by God to help our families thrive. Modern homeschool advice is generally about how to save time ...
Aug 30, 2024•27 min
As summer beckons us with her long days, late nights, and leisurely ways, let’s pause to consider a few questions before it melts away and the new school year is before us. What is a person and how are they formed? How ought we spend our time this summer? How does this time form us? What do we owe to our children these summer days? What, before the Lord, should we consider before one day melts into the next with delicious rest and rejuvenation? Today we consider these questions and I also give l...
May 24, 2024•20 min
The addictive pull of screens can become a perpetual whack-a-mole in a home seeking to cultivate a love for nature in their children. It's a game we'd rather not be playing with no end in sight. What's a mother to do? This episode comes with a gift. On the HoweverImperfectly Substack , I’ve added the Screen Free Get Outside Challenge for free subscribers. Over at the NatureStudyHacking.com shop you can purchase the Screen Free Guide to the Outdoor Life of Children. (Now ON SALE!) This guide incl...
May 10, 2024•13 min
Rest is essential to human flourishing. Rest is both a gift and a human right that will not only help us enter into the good blessings God offers us spiritually and relationally but will restore our bodies from the labors of this life and allow us to flourish mind, body, and soul. My nature study support guides are available at naturestudyhacking.com
Apr 26, 2024•13 min
Raising children is the best way to find out one’s weaknesses. Perhaps you thought you were a fairly good citizen. You always thought of others when taking turns at the post office and you never took more than your portion of ice cream at the birthday party. But having children seems to expose the lazy and selfish parts of ourselves. That’s why we need the help from others who’ve been there too and can help us navigate through the cultural sludge and learn to see our work as an act of worship. W...
Apr 12, 2024•29 min
In my years of motherhood, I’ve met many friends who are better housekeepers than I am. Some of them just come by it naturally. I come by it with effort and thoughtful deliberation. I’m easily distracted by the dimples on my children’s faces, the lure of a good book and the conversation with a friend. If you are naturally clean and tidy, you may not understand the need for a pep talk to keep your home in order and to do thus on repeat until that last little one grows up gets married and, Lord wi...
Mar 29, 2024•15 min
One of the gifts of motherhood is to overhear a child humming or singing softly while playing or doing chores only to discover they are singing a hymn we learned in church or during our family devotions. Is there anything more precious than listening to children’s voices singing praises to God? To hear a child sing as loud as possible: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, all thy works shall praise thy name in earth and sky and sea” is to enter into the eternal throne room where we will all be ...
Mar 15, 2024•18 min
Today I have a treat for you. We are going to step back in time to 1905. At this time, Ms. Mason was sending out her Mother’s Education Course correspondences and farmers were leaving the countryside to find work in the cities of America. This was a time filled with innovation and excitement for new discoveries and technologies were being made to make life more comfortable for more people. But as the Industrial Revolution made its way through the Western World, it affected the way American Women...
Mar 01, 2024•18 min
“Wash on Monday. Iron on Tuesday. Mend on Wednesday. Churn on Thursday. Clean on Friday. Bake on Saturday. Rest on Sunday.” -Little House in the Big Woods. Welcome to, However Imperfectly where homeschooling and homemaking intersect. This podcast is for the homeschool mom who desires to educate her children with a rich Charlotte Mason education, and also has meals to put on the table and laundry sort each day. I am your host, Joy Cherrick. I hope you find encouragement as we explore the ideas of...
Feb 16, 2024•19 min
Children need to eat at regular intervals. They seem to grow grumpy when not fed on time or in a regular rhythm. As a young mother, I knew this to be true, however, I found myself always surprised by how quickly the meals came. For each meal, I’d scramble together what we had. I was not a “planner” nor was I sure how to manage the home in a way that would make this part of the day seamless. Once I had three small children with one on the way, I knew it was time to apply my creative energy toward...
Feb 02, 2024•21 min•Season 1Ep. 3
