Homeschooling, Charlotte Mason, & Play

One of the questions I am asked most frequently is "What made you decide to homeschool?". I usually preface my answer with "Why not?". Our children are placed into our responsibility and what better educational environment could there be than a home where they are loved, cared for, and encouraged. And they will never have to miss recess because their bladder needed emptying during an unscheduled break time!

There are many reasons why we made the decision to homeschool and first and foremost is that spending time with our children is a joy. Call me selfish but I want to experience those exciting moments when they finally "get" something, or see the smile in their eyes when they finally learn to put letters together and read!

We are finishing our 4th year of homeschooling and have tried different styles, curriculums, and philosophies. After researching and speaking to other experienced homeschoolers, we have settled on a philosophy, really a lifestyle, that we will not depart from. We use a curriculum guide called Ambleside Online. A group of ladies took the time to research quality, living books and put together a 12-year schedule which incorporates Charlotte Mason's principles. It is a phenomenal gift to us as parents, the work they put into this project. The website tells you everything you need to know to give your child a Charlotte Mason education and you can learn more at www.amblesideonline.org.

Charlotte Mason was an educator in the late 1800's/early 1900's who believed that children are born persons and that they don't need contrived lessons in which everything is diluted for their young minds. She believed that children should play, and although there may be value in organized play, CM felt that "...boys and girls must have time to invent episodes, carry on adventures, live heroic lives, lay sieges and carry forts, even if the fortress be an old armchair; and in these affairs the elders must neither meddle nor make." She also says that if we do try to monopolize too much of our childrens lives and organize their every waking moment that there is a serious danger; "In this matter the child who goes too much on crutches never learns to walk". It is my contention that we are doing our children a strong disservice when we do not allow them unstructured, unplanned, unchoreographed time to just be kids.

In her book For The Children's Sake, Susan Schaeffer Macaulay states that children are being "fitted into" a streamlined schedule designed for the parents so they can cope with their pressures. This means putting them into an institution (e.g. school) where the children must be herded; out of necessity they need to consider group control more than the child's needs. She points out that before today's current trend to have our children's time managed, we were left to ourselves to play for hours on end. We didn't have to rush off all the time to do things that were "good" for us. The adults left the children free to play and to organize their own time. There was always someone to go to if you needed help but the adults didn't meddle with our time.

Children need to be outdoors playing. They need to make noise and mud pies. TV should be severely limited. Charlotte Mason believed that children should finish their lessons by lunchtime so they could pursue their own interests. This does not mean that she didn't value their education, in fact she so believed in the power of their young minds that she provided for a truly liberal education at a very young age. Children were respected. I recall my own childhood where my parents, who had never heard of Charlotte Mason, turned us loose day after day. We explored in the barns and fields surrounding our home. We waded through the creeks, explored caves, devised forts and tree-houses and never came inside except to eat. My brothers and I were glued to the TV for a couple of hours on Saturday mornings but we had adventures to create the rest of the week.

Children have an appetite to learn and they will learn with enthusiasm when by all appearances they look like they are only engaged in play! Take them to a park or the woods and observe their curiosity. They will throw stones, jump on logs, watch bugs crawling through the grass, wonder at the activity of the squirrels and chipmunks, all the while learning about the gifts God has given us in nature. Give them a trunk full of hats and scarves and old clothing and see young actors in action. Provide them with paper, crayons, paints and brushes and watch them create and develop motor skills at the same time.

Ds5 received a castle lego set for Christmas. We have been reading The Story of King Arthur and His Knights and he created his own "Camelot" out of legos, complete with Uther-Pendragon, the Sable Knight, Merlin, Lady Guinevere, and Excalibur the sword. It was the ultimate evidence to me that he was not only listening as I read to him, he was understanding and comprehending and was able to transfer that knowledge and recreate it in his play. Education is an adventure!