I’ve received some questions along these 31 days and I’ll attempt to answer a few…
1. What’s the difference between “beyond schooling” and the “Charlotte Mason” method?
The main difference I can find is that Charlotte Mason was a big supporter of a timed schedule. She made sure they did their work in a timely manner, alotting a certain amount of minutes to each subject. I’m just much more relaxed in how long we spend on a subject and I don’t break down our days into minutes or hours. If you’re the kind of person that needs a bit more of a schedule than I do, then implementing Charlotte Mason’s method would be great for you. If you want more info on Charlotte Mason, I would suggest reading the book “A Charlotte Mason Education” by Catherine Levison.
2. Why do you homeschool?
Such a good question that EVERY single mom should know the answer to (not MY answer…YOUR answer!) I homeschool because first and foremost that is what God has called us to do. 2nd, I truly feel that I am raising three special children (I know we all think that our own kids are special!) but I have been given words from the Lord about my kids and I know putting them in a traditional school setting will not encourage the gifts that they have. There are many reasons we homeschool, those two are the main ones for me. What about you? Why do you homeschool?
3. How do you teach reading?
We read. That is how we teach reading. It’s not teaching to read in 100 easy steps, it is putting a child on my lap and reading to them. One day they start to recognize the letters, then they string them together. Maybe they do simple worksheets out of a fun phonics book, or some exciting apps on the ipad. They trace letters and learn to write their name by age 5. It’s a slow process for some kids and that is absolutely ok. Your 8 year old can’t read? So what. One day they will be able to and you’ll look back and wonder what all the stress was about.
4. How do you keep your house clean and homeschool/work?
This really depends on what you consider “clean”! The main rooms, the kitchen and living room need to be clean before I go to bed, so that means the kids pick up the toys before they go to bed and we do the dishes. But my room is always a mess and I blame that on not having a 4th bedroom or “junk” room to throw all the random things and paper pile in. The kids also have chores, dishes, toys, garbages, dog poop, laundry. They pitch in, if they didn’t, I would have to do it all and I just can’t. I’ve embraced the realization that the house will not always be clean and that is ok!! Filth is another subject though. We can live in a home and it can be messy with toys, books, laundry, but not *filth* like spills, stains on the carpet or pet hair absolutely everywhere. If your home is in chaos and actually filthy, then I would really encourage you to check out flylady.net. Her methods changed the way I cleaned my house about 13 years ago. Let’s commit our homes to be lived-in, not homes that are just plain gross.
That’s it for now! Check back tomorrow as I’ll attempt to wrap these 31 days up in a pretty bow…*sniff sniff* I’ll be sad when its over!
