What is Charlotte Mason Homeschooling

What is Charlotte Mason Homeschooling – What You Need to Know

In my online homeschooling groups, Charlotte Mason homeschooling is perhaps the most popular. At least amongst those whom I surveyed. 🙂 But why? What is Charlotte Mason homeschool, and who the heck is Charlotte Mason?

Who Is Charlotte Mason?

Charlotte Mason was a British educator who lived at the turn of the 20th century. She believed that experience was the best form of education.

Charlotte Mason believed a child is a person, not just a mind. Her method focuses on educating the whole child.

Young homeschooled boy playing in the fall leaves Charlotte Mason method

Charlotte Mason’s Student Motto:

“I am, I can, I ought, I will.” This was the motto she gave us. I am a human being, one of God’s children; I can do right by my fellowmen and by myself; I ought so to do and God help me, I will so do. Is this not a great message she has given us?

Charlotte Mason Student

Charlotte Mason firmly taught that children are whole persons. Not that they are tiny adults, but that they are whole and full with their own personalities and their own free will.

Charlotte taught children are not just adults to be formed and molded, but young people with their own thoughts and feelings. She taught children should be loved and nurtured – not belittled.

What is the Charlotte Mason method?

Instead of focusing on input and output (i.e. inputting math facts outputs math tests and report cards) Charlotte worked to teach the child in a way that was natural and more child-led and child-inspired.

Literature and Living Books

Instead of memorizing rules and facts, the Charlotte Mason method encourages children to learn spelling and grammar through copy-work. Kids learn reading comprehension skills by talking out loud about what they read/learned.

Charlotte had a love of ‘living books’. Living books are more than just boring textbooks – they are fiction and non-fiction books alike that are fun and entertaining, and spark the child’s imagination! After all – when a child is entertained, they are more likely to retain the information!

I was lucky enough to stumble upon a fantastic Charlotte Mason inspired language arts curriculum that incorporates this very idea. Read my review on this Charlotte Mason curriculum, or go straight to the Rabbit Trails language arts landing page.

Charlotte Mason and Nature Studies

Charlotte Mason had a strong focus on what is called Nature Studies. Nature Studies are where the child spends his time outside, in nature! He observes nature. He writes notes in his journal about the plants and animals he is observing. Through observation, he learns to identify these plants and animals. He writes about weather patterns.

If there is one part of the Charlotte Mason method that I could truly come to love and adapt, it would definitely be the nature studies!

Art, Music, and Shakespeare.

Charlotte Mason encouraged observing and talking about art. Looking through picture books and discussing what is seen, for example. She also had a strong focus on memorizing hymns. Charlotte believed that appreciation for life comes from music, so all children had a strong music exposure under her tutelage.

Charlotte believed that by studying the poems and works of Shakespeare, children would develop wonderful uses of words and vocabulary. (I can definitely attest that the more time I spend reading Shakespeare and other similarly-written works, the better my vocabulary gets!)

I could go on for hours and hours about all that Charlotte Mason taught and believed. Her methods are incredibly beloved and quite popular amongst homeschooling families today. Just doing a Google search for Charlotte Mason homeschooling brings up 9.5 MILLION results. If that’s not popular, I don’t know what is.

I hope this post was helpful in teaching you a little about Charlotte Mason. At the bottom of the page are some links to a few Charlotte Mason sites I used in my research for this post. I know I definitely learned a lot about the Charlotte Mason method. This approach to homeschooling is a great option!

More information on Charlotte Mason Homeschooling can be found by clicking on the following links:

Toddler girl reading a fun classic book for her Charlotte Mason homeschooling style

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Charlene Hess

Charlene Hess is the founder of Hess UnAcademy. She spent many years teaching before she had her own kids. She now has 8 kids of her own, whom she has been homeschooled for over a decade.

She has now moved on from Hess UnAcademy to focus on her family and her new site, Secret Life of Homesteaders.