Winter Semester Loop Schedule Updates

Not too much has changed in my Catholic Charlotte Mason loop schedule since the last time I posted about it. But I've been thinking a lot lately about the challenge of striking a balance between simplicity and "spreading the feast" of a liberal curriculum. I finally pulled off the shelf the book of Christina Rossetti's poetry that I've had checked out from the library for a long time and introduced it into our homeschooling lessons. I added the poetry subject to my Humanities Loop, and I also have not given up on Spanish.

I have been reading CM's Vol. 1, Home Education, in which Charlotte says that "all educated persons should be able to speak French." Part of my hesitation to get into a foreign language is the indecision about which one. French would be great, but I have no background, whereas I do in Spanish. Even with Spanish, however, I have to build my confidence back up where the pronunciations are concerned, and I never could trill my Rs! Happily, I found a woman on youtube who I believe can help me. Then there is Latin, which especially as a Catholic I would love to learn. If I were Charlotte Mason, maybe I'd just do all three! But I am not. So for now I'm choosing Spanish and have put that in the loop to alternate with poetry. It may very well be that all educated persons in America should be able to speak Spanish!

What encourages me in CM's writing about French is the method of teaching only orally in the beginning, with no written language, adding six new words per day. When I consider the idea of tackling only six words at a time, it seems perfectly doable.

The thing to keep in mind is to add a little at a time by way of subjects. Do not expect to start the six-year-old off with 20 subjects, and do beware of having unrealistic expectations for both yourself and your children starting out.

I added a spelling book to the writing loop, to replace the Montessori Movable Alphabet. Workbooks are not "banned" in a CM education, but they should not be relied upon heavily or take the place of the traditional CM methods. I added dancing to our Tea Time activities. I am hoping to get myself back into shape as an Oriental dance artist and teach my daughter some basics.

I am sorry to report that The Guiding Light vintage Catholic picture Bible I was using to have Beezy read the Old Testament stories from is not serving my purposes. It is a beautiful book, but so many details are taken out of the stories that they lose both literary value and clarity. As such, we will be returning to Hurlbut's Story of the Bible. The only issue I've had with this at all is the need to explain the Catholic interpretation of Jesus' brothers and sisters. That is done easily enough, and otherwise it's a wonderful living book, very well written.

As I've often done, I again want to encourage readers to design your own CM curriculum. The guides at Mater Amabilis, Ambleside Online, and Simply Charlotte Mason are a great help when you need ideas, but I've read accounts of many mothers feeling overwhelmed and "behind" when they try to keep up with the schedules. I get the most use out of Elizabeth Foss' cycles in Real Learning, but I never try to complete every book suggested for a particular month. I browse among all the cycles for a particular age group and put things together in my own way.

I'd love to hear how your current term is going, so please share in the comments! And now here is my updated loop schedule for the current winter term.

Daily Core:

American Cardinal Reader or chapter book (The Courage of Sarah Noble)

Math lesson

Piano practice

Literature read aloud: Leif Erickson the Lucky (for lesson time, with oral narration and/or discussion); Anne of the Island (bedtime)

Writing loop:

copy work

dictation

grammar workbook

written narration or spelling workbook

cursive

Extended Loops:

Religion loop:

The Baltimore Catechism or other religious lesson book

The Rosary in Art (picture studies)

New Testament Bible reading (Rosary mysteries and decade prayers)

Hurlbut’s Story of the Bible (Old Testament stories)

Saint Isaac and the Indians by Milton Lomask

Humanities Loop:

The Story Book of Science, One Small Square or Edible Chemistry Kit

A Child’s Geography of the World, map work or visual enrichment

Poetry or Spanish

Memory work/recitation

The Care & Keeping of You

Tea Time:  music, baking, correspondence, handicrafts, dance

Weekly:

Religious Ed. Class at parish church on Wednesdays

Gym and art classes at Catholic school & piano lessons on Thursdays

Art, lunch and recess at Catholic school on Fridays

A Charlotte Mason Advent

We had an excellent beginning to our Charlotte Mason homeschooling winter term today. Yesterday was the first Sunday of Advent, so naturally this season of the liturgical year is a major theme at this time in our studies. We went to Mass Saturday evening and picked up the last two purple candles to be found anywhere on the way home. Luckily we still had a pink and a purple one left from last year, so our Advent wreath was complete! We blessed the wreath with holy water, and we say special prayers and light the appropriate candle or candles at dinner each night. Beezy had brought home an Advent pamphlet from religious education class, so we are using that as our guide. She also brought home a small Advent calendar with a flap to open, revealing a picture and a Bible verse, each day.

We began lesson time this afternoon with Beezy reading the "Prayer During Advent" from Prayers for Young Catholics (Daughters of St. Paul). I then read the selection on the beginning of the Church Year and Advent from The Church Year for Children (Rev. Jude Winkler), and we discussed it. Her American Cardinal Reader (Neumann Press) contains a few Christmas stories, so she began reading one of these.

Beezy practiced her piano. She had a math lesson; a science lesson from One Small Square: Coral Reef (Silver), supplemented with an online article about algae from the Kids Research Express blog; and a read aloud which she narrated from Leif Erikson the Lucky (Kummer). We finished with a Rosary lesson. We are currently praying the Luminous Mysteries (read directly from the New Testament) and using the wonderful 5th grade book from Seton, The Rosary in Art, for picture studies and artist biographies. Beezy did copy work from the story of the Wedding at Cana.

This is to give you a sampling of a particularly Catholic CM day of learning in our home. I have ordered several books from Elizabeth Foss' elementary lists for December, found in her Catholic CM manual, Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home. So far I have received The Way to Bethlehem (Biffi); Letters from Father Christmas (Tolkien); and The Huron Carol (Jean de Brebeuf). This last selection is especially timely, because we are reading the biographical novel, Saint Isaac and the Indians (Lomask). St. Isaac Jogues goes to live among the Huron in Canada in this book. The music to the Huron carol can be found at the end of the de Brebeuf picture book, which contains the lyrics and beautiful illustrations, so I'm going to encourage Beezy to play it on her keyboard.

I hope this inspires you, especially if you are having trouble finding ideas and resources for observing Advent. I plan to keep it simple. Go to Mass, light the Advent wreath at dinner, pray Advent prayers to open our lessons each day, and read living books for the season. I also plan to incorporate Tea Time, using Advent hymns found on youtube, and watch good holiday movies together as a family. Since we only have three weeks until our Christmas break begins, it's also a good time to finish up some of the books we have been reading, and then start with new things after the New Year.

I wish you all a blessed and joyful time of preparation for celebrating the coming of our Savior into the world!

A Pause Before Advent

Yesterday my village became a winter wonderland. My daughter's snow boots from last year are, alas, too small. But that does not stop her from embracing what she says is her favorite season! She inspires me. Winter has never been my favorite season. I like neither the wind nor the cold, though I do love the beauty outside my windows and the coziness of a fire.

We wrapped up our fall homeschooling term on Friday. I decided we would take all of the coming week off for a Thanksgiving break. We can decorate the house for Christmas and shop for our harvest meal. We may be traveling, but as of yet we aren't sure.

In Teaching from Rest, Sarah Mackenzie encourages home educators to "bake in review time." In this week before Advent begins, it seems to me the perfect time to reflect upon how our living education goals are panning out. What books have been a grand success, and which were a flop? Which methods are bringing about the desired results, and what needs to be modified?

Our fall term just happened to end up being exactly 3 months. You may wish to make your terms shorter or longer. But I do believe that regular breaks for refreshment and reflection are necessary. We all need periods of rest and a change from the usual routine.

Take a little time today or another day soon and write down a review of your homeschooling year so far. Pray over your efforts and assess with gentleness the areas where you've been successful and where you need to grow. When the first Sunday in Advent arrives next week, you will be prepared to fully enter into this holy season.

Discerning an Authentic Charlotte Mason Education

Many of the homeschoolers I have interacted with online are dabblers in Charlotte Mason. I get that. I too was once a dabbler. I can immediately think of two reasons for not pursuing a traditional, authentic CM education.

1) We want to be able to customize the curriculum to fit the needs of the individual child, and an eclectic approach seems like an effective way to accomplish this goal.

2) Laziness.

From my experience, the idea behind the first item is based on an underlying fallacy. For whatever reason, we get the notion in our heads that any "pure" approach to homeschooling is going to be restrictive to our freedom. I like to draw a parallel here with Catholicism. We have rules in our Faith--the teachings of Scripture and Tradition, the interpretation of the Magisterium, dogmas, codes of canon law, an order to the Mass, papal encyclicals, etc... Yet we understand that our freedom depends upon the boundaries, or limits, of our religion. A faithful Catholic does not pick and choose which teachings of Jesus and his Church to obey and which to cast aside. We trust that God wants the best for us, and so we joyfully follow the tenets of our Faith.

Of course, homeschooling style is not so grave a subject as religious belief and practice. But the philosophy and method that we follow in education must be in accordance with Christian principles. It is imperative that our choices be solid and not made willy-nilly, and we must avoid the possibility of serious error as much as possible. Because a CM education is built upon a basis of natural law and is oriented as the "handmaid of Religion", it makes for a happy marriage with the Catholic Faith. While it isn't the only viable option, I have personally found it to be ideal; especially in that it allows for a customization of the child's education as well as providing an already proven path to follow. You need not be a trailblazer.

Now to address the laziness issue. Homeschooling is a lot of work, and a CM education requires much preparation. It's common to get excited about a new idea, read a little bit about it, apply some of the techniques, and then fail to fully follow through. There might be doubt that the approach is rigorous enough, or worry that it is too rigorous. It might be difficult to trust because it is so different from what most of us experienced in school ourselves. We may become distracted by other tantalizing methods and fear that by focusing in on Charlotte Mason, we and our children might miss out on benefits that another way has to offer. The problem is, you can't get the full benefits of a CM education if you don't make the effort to really know what it is and truly apply it. When push comes to shove, simple laziness is often the culprit of our wishy-washy homeschooling ways.

First things first--the philosophy. The method flows from the philosophy, not the other way around. It's like Sacred Tradition and Scripture in this respect. The fullness of Christianity is not found in the Bible only. Likewise, simply applying methods such as narration and copy work do not a CM education make. You have to understand the why behind it.

So how should one begin? I recommend that you read and re-read Charlotte's 21 Principles of Education; meditate on them and understand them as well as you can; and begin to integrate them into your family life. Then read the sixth book in her home education series, A Philosophy of Education, where these principles are fleshed out. She wrote this volume last, after more than 30 years of teaching experience. It is apparent that in the mind of Miss Mason, there was no question as to the success of her method and the solid philosophical foundation upon which it was based.

The next step is to read Volume 1, Home Education, to get into the nitty gritty of how to practically apply CM's ideas with children ages six to nine. Even if your kids are older, do not skip this volume, as it lays down the rails. At the same time, you can read a supplementary work written by a contemporary author, such as Karen Andreola's A Charlotte Mason Companion. Here the reader is provided with the history of CM and a summary of the basic tenets and how they are applied. Karen is responsible for getting the original volumes reprinted and brought to the U.S. from England, so I consider her the best go-to resource. I would also recommend the particularly Catholic CM manual, Real Learning by Elizabeth Foss. It's fine to start with a companion volume such as these to get the ball rolling before you get into CM's own series, but do not stop here.

Continue through Charlotte's volumes. To be blunt, if you aren't going to read CM's own words, you may as well forget the whole thing. When you aren't sure how to proceed in your homeschooling efforts, go back and re-read. In my personal experience, I have found that the only way to stay motivated, inspired, and on task is to go further up and deeper in. The answer is not to seek other methods or to "blend" them with CM. Trust me when I tell you that this will only lead to confusion and inconsistency. You will waste time that you could be spending immersing yourself in Charlotte's own words, not to mention time that could be spent directly with your children. Remember, we aren't seeking the "perfect" method or curriculum, but rather directing our children's minds and hearts toward God. If we follow the guidance of our Savior and turn our will over to him, the only possible result will be excellence.

Once you have put in the time and effort to set your homeschooling on a solid Catholic CM foundation, it will practically flow of its own accord, especially if you use the loop scheduling idea that I recently wrote about. At its heart, a CM education is teaching from rest. I assure you that it is flexible and simple. Get your head out of "curriculum mode" and reoriented toward a living style of learning. What we are talking about here is no less than a paradigm shift. Be gentle with yourself and give it time. Give yourself permission to make mistakes.

This approach is also adaptable to any child's learning style or temperament and any family's needs. It will look a little different in every home, but the common chords will be present. Begin with the basics and gradually add additional subjects. The only way to do it is to actually do it. You will learn how it works and become more comfortable and confident as you go along. A Charlotte Mason education will die on the table if you keep it sequestered as an intimidating, abstract idea in your mind. Choose and mix your ingredients well, and don't take the cake out of the oven half-baked! Only then will you partake of the splendid feast offered.

The "Why" of Homeschooling

When the idea of homeschooling first came up, my daughter was still a baby. My husband seemed to think it would be a good idea, but I shot it down. When he asked why I wouldn't want to homeschool, I said with vim and verve, "Because when she's five, I want my life back!"

I've told this story before, and also the part about how my mom tried to tell me, "This is your life now," but it took a long time for that truth to sink in. It wasn't that I didn't enjoy being a mother. It was simply that I was 35 years old and used to a certain freedom, and this radical new path of motherhood took some getting used to.

By the time Beezy was three, my husband and I were definitely leaning toward homeschooling. I can't for the life of me remember what caused this change of heart, but surely it was a God thing. And books by John Holt and John Taylor Gatto were influential. Despite the belief that we were following the Divine Will, I was not Catholic at the time that my child's home education began in earnest, and religion wasn't at the top of the list of reasons for this choice.

Since then I have become profoundly aware of the Church's assurance that parents have received the responsibility and solemn authority to be the primary educators of their children. Parenthood is truly a divinely decreed vocation. That does not mean that Christian parents must homeschool. But the Church says that a true education must be a Christian one, with the purpose of all study being directed toward the supreme end of getting one's children to heaven. A Catholic school could certainly be a valid choice, if it faithfully adheres to the teachings of the Church on education. Unfortunately, this is often not the case. But even if one's parish school is excellent in the realms of both religion and academics, some of the same concerns that parents have about government schools also apply here.

The secular humanism that indoctrinates children in public schools has also crept into parochial ones. The Common Core standards of the federal government that have recently been adopted by most states in the U.S. bring with them a mediocre and morally questionable curriculum that requires increased hours spent in testing and preparation for the tests. Funding is withheld from schools that do not adopt Common Core. And while it is only the subjects of math and English that are currently being hijacked, the long-term plan is to infiltrate all subjects and to establish an invasive tracking program that follows people from the cradle to the grave. I fear that Catholic schools which have adopted Common Core put their traditional aims, purpose, and freedom at risk.

There are also those intangible but crucial considerations of the well-being of the family that come into play in the question of education. Sarah MacKenzie, in her book Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooler's Guide to Unshakable Peace, explains this perspective so eloquently:

"Our children are not projects. If, by the grace of God, we can manage to remember that our children are all made in his image--and more importantly, if we can treat them as such despite the mess and the chaos--then we will really be able to teach from rest. Therein lies the reason we've taken on this arduous task of home education at all--because a government school would not see our children as the image bearers that they are. After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, there would be no Morning Offering, no Nicene Creed. They would miss countless opportunities to love on their siblings and form deep, meaningful encounters with each other, with us, and with material chosen specifically to nurture their souls. We want all else to pale in comparison to our quest toward honor, virtue, and wisdom."

Though I have not completely ruled out the possibility of a Catholic parochial school for my child, I have serious reservations. The school day and year have grown increasingly longer over the course of American history. In addition to the standard school day plus transportation time, homework and extracurricular activities leave little space for families to spend time--of either quantity or quality--together.

Since its advent, government schooling has sought to weaken the authority of parents. Teachers and the peer group exert undue influence. One benefit of the Catholic schools is that there may be lesser issues with negative socialization, and the prevalence of a religious atmosphere is surely preferable to the obliteration of anything to do with God in the public system. 

At a Catholic school there will, or at least should be, the due support given to parents as the primary educators of their children. Yet at any school, siblings are separated from one another for long hours every day, and family bonds in general may be strained (not to mention the pocketbook in the case of private schooling!). Cacophonous bells interrupt a child's concentration and short-circuit his ability to go deeply into any course of study. Children are shuffled from one room to another, and conformity is mandatory. Problems of bullying persist, and the personality of the child is encroached upon. I am not convinced, even in the best of circumstances, that giving so much of the care and education of one's children over to others is the wisest course or is in the best interest of families. Homeschooling may not be the best option for every family, but it is worthy of prayerful discernment and consideration.

In our fast-paced, busyness idolizing world, a homeschooling atmosphere can be a haven for the family. The fulfillment of God's design for the domestic church has a better chance for successfully coming to fruition. There is a control over one's time and a freedom that I would be hard-pressed to give up. If my daughter went to school, she would miss out on the benefits of a Charlotte Mason lifestyle of learning. Because of her unique learning style, she thrives best in a one-on-one teaching situation. We need not fear being "behind", though I know that such worries do intimidate many home educating parents. If we keep our eyes and hearts tuned to pleasing the Savior, faithfully and consistently tending to the work we have been given, then we will enjoy the true measure of our success.

Tea Time & More on Loop Scheduling

After reflecting upon my new loop schedule for our Charlotte Mason curriculum, I decided to take "Tea Time" out of the Humanities loop and put it into its own category. (See previous post on loop schedules.) There were of couple of reasons for this. First, I realized that I had left out one of our books, The Care & Keeping of You, which we are using to cover health, a subject required by the state of Ohio. I don't want to have more than 5 items in a particular loop. My loops are all full!

The other reason is that I don't want to feel any pressure to work Tea Time in on a regular basis. I started thinking, anxiously, about how I would have to make sure we had some tasty baked goods to eat, and that I would need to ensure getting those subjects on that list accomplished. The last thing I want to associate with Tea Time is stress! Truth be told, we already have plenty in our current fall term. I recently came across this sage advice from Nancy Kelly: Keep cutting back until there is peace in your home. This was such a timely godsend! I realized that I could not fit poetry and Spanish into the current term, and that I should put those noble subjects off until winter.

Yet with Tea Time, I can perhaps include a little of those things that are well worth doing but that would overload our regular schedule, saving them for when I have time or when the mood strikes! It can be an occasional treat. Tea Time is a popular practice among CM home educators. It's a warm and leisurely event, imbued with culture. You can break out your fine China, have tea (or cocoa or whatever suits your fancy), arrange a pretty bouquet, and relax with your children. In addition to Spanish and poetry, I have music, correspondence, baking, and handicrafts on the list. You could read a delightful classic novel to your kids just for the pleasure of it, listen to an audio book, pray the Rosary together, write letters to Grandma, or work on your knitting. The possibilities are endless. The key is to enjoy spending time together doing something fun and enriching, but without the academic strings attached.

Tea time could be held at the traditional 4:00 p.m. of the English, or you could make it a special brunch with French toast or pancakes and call it "morning time". Some mothers like to have a "morning basket" in which to keep activities for such occasions. Some do Tea Time daily, making it the core of their homeschooling. Others have it once a week or only occasionally. You don't have to provide gourmet offerings, either. A simple plate of sliced apples, peanut butter, cheese, and crackers would do the trick. Do you have Tea Time in your home? How do you like to celebrate it? And that's exactly the perfect word for it--celebration. A celebration of family, of life, of learning, and of rest. Treat yourself and your children to Tea Time now and again, and discover its simply abundant treasures.

Catholic Charlotte Mason Loop Schedule

Shortly after posting my weekly Charlotte Mason schedule for the current fall term, I began reading Sarah Mackenzie's Teaching from Rest: A Homeschooer's Guide to Unshakable Peace. Sarah is a Catholic mother of six, and she writes at the blog, Amongst Lovely Things. Who wouldn't wish to have unshakable peace, yes?

Last night I encountered this idea of "looping subjects", and my world was rocked! As I mentioned in the previous post, I often end up doing a particular subject on a different day than I have planned in my schedule. I have been finding it very useful to have the schedule nonetheless, so that I make sure to work everything in during a given week. In reality, I have been looping and didn't even realize it!

Sarah explains on p. 41, "The concept of looping is simply this: Instead of assigning tasks to certain days of the week, list tasks and then tackle them in order, regardless of what day it is."  In my opinion, it isn't even necessary to do them in order. Simply check each item off as you do it, and the next day choose another one from the list.

Sarah advocates using short loop schedules, with three to five items on each. You can also put an item in a loop more than once. I was up late last night working this out--so excited! I typed it up today and made copies for myself, so that I can start a fresh list each time I get through all the loops. Sarah says the time frame will likely be one or two weeks.

As you can see, my Daily Core items are reading, math, piano practice, literature read alouds, and writing, which has its own loop. The Extended Loops are for subjects in religion and the humanities, which are basically what remains to round out our liberal arts curriculum. You can read the details of the resources we use in the original schedule. Most likely, in addition to the Daily Core, we will include a task from each of the Extended Loops, for a total of seven subjects worked on per day. Today we did two in religion and none from the humanities. Sarah emphasizes that every subject does not need to be done every day, for the whole year long. Don't you feel more restful already?

In case you are not familiar with the "tea time" concept, that will be forthcoming in the next installment! I do hope this inspires you to create your own loop schedule. For ideas on how to accomplish such a thing with a large family that includes very little ones, get Sarah's book. I highly recommend it!! 


Daily Core:

American Cardinal Reader

Math lesson

Piano practice

Literature read aloud: Leif Erickson the Lucky (for lesson time, with narration and/or discussion); Anne of Green Gables (bedtime)

Writing loop:

copy work

dictation

grammar

word making w/ movable alphabet and sentence writing

cursive

Extended Loops:

Religion loop:

The Baltimore Catechism

The Rosary in Art (picture studies)

New Testament Bible reading (Rosary mysteries and decade prayers)

The Guiding Light (Old Testament Bible stories)

The Saint Book or Loyola Treasury

Humanities Loop:

The Story Book of Science

A Child’s Geography of the World (or map work/visual enrichment)

Nature walk or nature notebook

Memory work/recitation
The Care & Keeping of You

Tea Time: poetry, music, Spanish, baking, correspondence, handicrafts

Weekly:

Religious Ed. Class at parish church on Wednesdays

Gym and art classes at Catholic school & piano lessons on Thursdays

Art, lunch and recess at Catholic school on Fridays