A Charlotte Mason Education

I had ordered the Complete Homeschooling Series by Charlotte Mason and received the shipment yesterday. Of course, I wanted to start in right away, but I have a couple of thick books out from the library I need to finish soon because I won't be able to renew them. So, I did not start reading them, but remembered that I have A Charlotte Mason Education out from the library. I'm not sure how long I've had it out nor when it's due. It's a short little book, so I started it last night and finished it this morning.

I've read some Charlotte Mason stuff before and am always left with mixed feelings, as I am now. The scheduled structure of it does not appeal to me, and yet I could see how for Bob, the structure would be helpful in terms of training to stay on task and get a lot of work done quickly. He'll be faced with that in post-secondary, so part of me is saying this is a habit that needs to be worked on. In particular when others are around. Montessori high schools do have schedules, but not quite like Charlotte Mason. At the same time, there is such a broad education offered to the children in CM, just like in Montessori, with some very practical, home-based ways to do it. That's one advantage CM has over Montessori for homeschoolers: CM was designed for use in the home. Montessori was designed for large, multi-aged groups in a classroom.

The books recommended by CM are really great. Part of me is thinking again, after several years, of combining some of CM's materials with Montessori. But the thoughts aren't sorted out yet. As I read the Series over the summer, as well as Montessori books, I hope a clearer vision of how to meld the two will develop!