The Foundation of Your Charlotte Mason Education
Although Charlotte Mason does not use many standard textbooks, it still requires a curriculum of carefully selected books (history, biography, and the like) to provide the child with a well-rounded body of knowledge on each of the subjects. The typical schedule will feature short lessons (10 to 20 minutes per subject for the younger children, but longer for older ones) with an emphasis on excellent execution and focused attention, whether that is in thinking through a challenging math problem, looking carefully at a painting and then describing it, copying just a few words neatly, or listening to a short Bible episode and telling it back. It is especially important to encourage the development of good habits, and quality of work is stressed over quantity. It is much better to think through just a few difficult math questions rather than simply church out hundreds of simple math problems in order to take up time. Typical subjects of a Charlotte Mason Education include:
The Foundation of Your Charlotte Mason Education
The Bible: The knowledge of God, as found in the Bible, is the primary knowledge and the most important. Traditional Charlotte Mason encourages the use of the King James version for its writing style and poetry.
History: History is taught chronologically, using well-written history books, source documents and biographies. I was surprised to see that my first grader was expected to learn early European history and equally surprised to see that she not only understood it, but loved re-telling the stories to her brothers.
Literature: Literature is taught along with history, using books from or about the same time period. Language arts skills are learned through narration, which consists of the child telling back a story. Younger children will do so orally and in later years(approximately 5th grade and on) in written form. They also learn literature through copywork (which also contributes to penmanship) which consists of the child writing down a piece of literature or passages from their books. Memorization is used to give children material to meditate on, so typically scripture and poetry are selected for memorization.
Science: Science in the early years emphasizes nature study with an emphasis on close, focused observation of creation as a means to knowledge of God. Science is taught through observation and experimentation as well as reading.
Foreign Language: It is suggested that children start learning a foreign language in their early years. Latin is added in early elementary school. Don't let this discourage you from Charlotte Mason. Just know that it is possible, however, you can still use the Charlotte Mason method and save the introduction of a foreign language until later.
Math: Math is taught through manipulatives as well as through understanding how math concepts work, not just the memorization of facts.
Other Subjects: Other subjects such as spelling and grammar are taught through the above subjects. Charlotte Mason also believed in handicrafts and life skills as well as improving the general observation skills of children that could be learned from playing outside. Music and Art appreciation as well as music lessons and learning hymns is an important part of developing all the interests and abilities of a child.
There are other ways to break down the subjects that are recommended by the Charlotte Mason Method for example, many will separate Nature Study, Science, and Natural History into three separate subjects rather than place all under the "Science" category. But the above is a general overview of subjects and a great way to get started when organizing your Charlotte Mason curriculum.
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