When we first discovered the Charlotte Mason method, we were excited to try it out for our family. Everything about it appealed to me: the emphasis on nature study, the use of living books, letting the child narrate instead of requiring objective-type, memorization-dependent answers, the rich addition of music and art and handicraft.
We slowly incorporated the different components to our firstborn’s homeschool, which began with a boxed curriculum bought from the U.S., while I continued learning more about the philosophy. During that time, homeschooling was still in the baby stages in my country, the Philippines, and especially in our city, so most of my learning happened online, through blogs, videos, and podcasts. Even then, we were very enthusiastic at sharing our homeschooling experience with friends who would listen.
It took a few years before some of them decided to try it out themselves. Because we’d been doing it for a while, we took on the role of guide, coach, cheerleader. That’s not to say we’ve perfected it—far from it!—but at least we had a little bit of experience to share and encourage them by.
And then the 2020 pandemic hit, where a few more families—strangers this time—came under my “care” as Charlotte Mason coach. But because of the influx of families who needed a beautiful alternative for educating their children, urgently, almost, because of the pandemic, I realized that most of them did not have the luxury of time that the rest of us who were already homeschoolers then had had in terms of researching and choosing what kind of philosophy they wanted to follow. In fact, many of them had been thrown into the homeschooling wagon all as a surprise, too!
The good thing is that when the pandemic rolled around, a few of us who have already benefited from the Charlotte Mason method have already been actively sharing the beauty of this way of education with many others. More and more countries and states have sprouted little CM groups, and we believe it paved the way for more families to be able to apply this gentle approach to learning. In fact, you might even say it’s become almost an “in” thing to do—to skip the textbooks and use these excellent living books for our children’s education, introduce them to classical music and great masterpieces in art, keeping nature journals and all that.
But the truth is that, the Charlotte Mason method is more than just the things we do. In her book, she herself says that she does not attempt to tell us “do this, do that,” and instead offers an invitation to “consider this.”
Because of that, I’ve found that many who have jumped into the CM method may run into snags here and there and be tempted to quit! That’s perfectly normal, because the CM philosophy runs counter to many of the things we’ve been taught growing up, or even the things that may be popular in our society at large.
That’s why we are happy to announce that “Help! I Love CM But…” is now available on Amazon!
This Quick Troubleshooting Guide for the Charlotte Mason Homeschool Parent is intended to help you troubleshoot some of the most common struggles, especially for newbies, and hopefully encourage you to keep going. We believe in the long-term benefits of a CM education, which means that giving it only a year or less, and then giving up because the way seems hard, may not do it justice. We hope that the experience of many other CM homeschooling families that have gone before us can be a big help in finding ways to get around some of the most common issues.
And, that goes to say, you’re not alone, Mamma, and we’re cheering you on!
(Excerpt from Help, I Love CM, But…)