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lutzm
, August 04, 2007
(view all comments by lutzm)
Warm and encouraging, this is my favorite homeschooling guidebook. It explains how to teach your children in a nonacademic way. Rather than teaching to pass the test, you teach a child to love the subject. That way they learn far more than testing requires, and enjoy learning it. It is fun to teach this way. Living books are used, instead of textbooks. Living books are written by a single author who knows and loves her subject, then puts the facts in a story form. Laura Ingall's Little House series are examples of living books. From them one can learn about homesteading in the midwest, weather patterns, relationships between settlers and Native Americans, and then read further on subjects of interest. Living books tend to hold a child's interest better than textbooks, and by using narration the child learns how to pick out the facts, and can remember them easily. Narration is used, rather than workbooks, and Mason explains how it works. Nature notebooks that train one to observe detail are for science, not fill in the blank workbooks. There is little time spent sitting at a desk in the early grades. The knowledge gained by these methods is broader than what one gets teaching to the test. I've been using these with my children for three years, and been pleased with their progress. Also, the book is helpful in training a child in other ways, such as willpower, getting along with siblings, organization, and self disciplne. It says, "we can draw a child forward with an inspiring idea, instead of using an endless string of nagging or threatening do's and don'ts. Idea is the motivating power of life." (p.75)
The principles of this type of education can work for anyone regardless of beliefs, and there is some Christian language in this book.
I go through this book again and again for ideas on lesson plans and positive parenting. I've found Ruth Beechick's books (A Home Start in Reading, A Strong Start in Language, An easy Start in Arithmetic) helpful for specifics of what to teach and how for K-3 using the Charlotte Mason philosophy. It gives some reassurance that you've covered everything your child needs.
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