One of the concepts that I am working on ingraining into my brain is the concept of slowly reading and absorbing books. I am a bookworm. I devour books. The Charlotte Mason philosophy is to read through a book very slowly. This method is used to ensure short lessons. Shorter lessons allow the child to focus more intently for a shorter period of time. It also allows more variety in the lessons.
I naturally want to schedule a couple books and have Laura focus on them very quickly, finishing the book in a matter of days instead of weeks. However, Charlotte Mason uses a different philosophy. Many books are read at the same time in a variety of different subjects. They are read very slowly so that the ideas in the books can be absorbed and thought about and become a part of the child. This is a very good practice since many of the books have strong character-building morals and ideas through-out.
Laura now has many books on her reading list. However, we are reading only a few pages per day. We might not even read each book every day. A couple of the books have copywork to be done. Narration after every reading is vital so that the child can retell what they just read. This boosts comprehension quite a bit.
Some of the books appear very challenging. I am looking at a lot of different Charlotte Mason sites to see the differences between them. From Ambleside Online to Simply Charlotte Mason to Heart of Dakota, which was wasted on me last year. I am also slowly reading through a lot of material written by Charlotte Mason or others that have studied her methods. To me, the greatest impact, is that this is truly a Christ-honoring way to teach a child. This is also a more natural way to teach. It saves me tons of grading time! Laura immediately narrates to me about what she has read, so there is no need for a lot of busywork questions. She still is getting them in her Math, English, and Literature and Creative Writing from ACE.
I am hoping to not have to purchase a lot of materials this year, since saving money is an issue. I will buy some books, and I haven't stopped using ACE entirely because Laura is doing so well with some of the subjects. Math, English, and Literature and Creative Writing are still being done with ACE. Ironically, I plan to use Narration with the ACE literature plus the workbooks.
The biggest purchase that I can see could become quite necessary is a quality printer. Apparently a lot of the best books are out of print books from the past. Most of their texts can be found for free online. They can be printed off and bound in a binder for reading. My current printer couldn't handle that kind of workload. So, a top quality one with long-lasting ink cartridges may be the best investment. It's something to look into for tax time.
Other books can be purchased, and I might purchase them slowly. That is one of the benefits of slow readings. I don't have to be in a huge rush to buy, buy, buy all these books. I can just take my time and shop around. I can buy a couple at a time instead of a large lot.
One of the books that I think was a great investment was the Mott Media copy of the McGuffey Reader. Laura will slowly go through this reader, getting most of her copywork from this book. The old fashioned stories and the high morals portrayed are perfect for what I want in an education.
Charlotte Mason likes instilling good habits in children. I am just beginning to pray on what character issues need to be addressed and worked on. I want to do this with Laura and Megan. Megan, being a three year old, is at the perfect age to begin instilling good habit. The CM philosophy is that habits formed early and fully are not easy to break. You want to make sure those habits are good ones.
I am excited about what God has for us. Now learning feels more like an adventure instead of a get through school philosophy. I am so excited to read more about how this method of teaching and learning and even parenting works.
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