Homeschooling Outside the Box

Ah, Christmas. The lights. The music. The traditions. The bustle. The gatherings. The Reason for the season. Starting this month, I'll be gifting my paid subscribers with a bundle of rhythms to help celebrate the season from month to month. They're called "Everything" guides. If you've been around for a while, these are the classic everything guides reimagined and much improved ;). In the spirit o...

Principle 18 & 19: The Way of the Reason We should teach children, also, not to lean (too confidently) unto their own understanding because the function of reason is to give logical demonstration of (a) mathematical truth and (b) of initial ideas accepted by the will. In the former case reason is, perhaps, an infallible guide but in the latter is not always a safe one, for whether the initial idea...

Principle 16 & 17: The Way of the Will We may offer to children two guides to moral and intellectual self-management which we may call 'the Way of the Will' and 'the Way of Reason.' The Way of the Will: Children should be taught (a) to distinguish between 'I want' and 'I will.' (b) That the way to will effectively is to turn our thoughts away from that which we desire but do not will. (c) That the...

I'm supposed to be working on my next episode of the "Summer with Charlotte" series that I've been slogging through this summer these past few months but after wrestling through fits and starts in my head I realize the answer is, as usual, simple and honest, if not immediately obvious. I can't. Not, I can't ever. I just can't yet because something has happened and writing anything before you, dear...

Principle 9 & 10: How We Make Use of Mind "We hold that the child's mind is no mere sac to hold ideas but is rather, if the figure may be allowed, a 'spiritual organism' with an appetite for all knowledge. This is its proper diet with which it is prepared to deal and what it is able to digest and assimilate as the body does food-stuffs. "Such a doctrine as the Herbartian, that the mind is a recept...

Cindy Rollins homeschooled her nine children for over thirty years. She is the host of The New Mason Jar podcast and a co-host with Angelina Stanford and Thomas Banks of the popular Literary Life Podcast . She also curates the "Over the Back Fence Newsletter" at MorningTimeForMoms.com . She is the author of Mere Motherhood ; Morning Time: A Liturgy of Love; Hallelujah: Cultivating Advent Tradition...

Principle 5: Three Instruments of Education Therefore, we are limited to three educational instruments - the atmosphere of environment, the discipline of habit, and the presentation of living ideas. The P.N.E.U. Motto is: "Education is an atmosphere, a discipline and a life." Reference: Volume 6, Chapter 6 We saw last time that there are quite a few wrong paths to take when approaching education t...

This is the third article in my "Summer with Charlotte" series. If you missed the first two, you can read On Education and On Principles 1, 2 & 20 . Let's jump in. Principle 3: Authority and Docility The principles of Authority on the one hand and Docility on the other are natural, necessary, and fundamental. Principle 4: The Sacredness of Personality These principles (i.e. authority and docility)...

Principle 1: Children are Born Persons "No sooner doth the truth…. come into the soul's sight, but the soul knows her to be he, first and old acquaintance." "The consequence of truth is great, therefore the judgment of it must not be negligent." Reference: Volume 6, Chapter 2 Here Charlotte quotes Benjamin Whichcote, who was the founding father of Cambridge and a puritan divine (an archaic word fo...

Where do I even begin?  For the better part of twelve years I have been writing (and reading and podcasting and speaking) about Charlotte Mason. I'd like to think I've hit that 10,000 hours expert level of knowledge about her but truth be told there is still much to learn. I'm being totally serious when I say Charlotte is in my top five people who I want to meet in heaven. I intend to have many a...

"Never be within doors when you can rightly be without." It's one of the first Charlotte Mason adages I learned by heart. I use it all the time to this day. I bet it'll be one of those sayings my kids will remember when they're fifty and say with a smile - albeit a slight roll of the eyes - "my mom was always saying…" and I'm so happy to think that. When God made humans, He put them in a garden. N...

While becoming a parent is the true beginning of the journey, the preschool years bring a certain amount of well, uncertainty…for those of us who embark on the adventure of homeschooling. When is "the beginning" of their education? What should education look like in the early years? The culture tells us more is better, and the sooner the better. But Charlotte Mason referred to these formative, ear...

What is education? What are your family values? What type of family culture are you working to create? What type of people do you hope to help your kids become? Mark Twain once famously said, "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education." Education means so much more than curriculum; it is the cultivation of a person and a philosophy of education needs to reflect the type of person y...

Winter has the propensity to bring burn-out for homeschoolers but it doesn't have to be that way. Today I'll talk about ways to avoid burn-out and how to enjoy the coziness of winter. Show Notes Sunlight before noon post Until the Streetlights Come On by Ginny Yurich Homeschool Rhythms: Rest Time Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch by Eileen Spinelli Connect with Me On Instagram Join my Substack   Don't...

With the holidays around the corner, there are bound to be some busy days that will rock your normal homeschool routine. Those days are not lost, though. There's a simple way to stay productive and relaxed when a hectic schedule demands it. Tune in to see how we do it. SHOW NOTES Homeschool Rhythms: Get Ready Zone Work  

If you've ever struggled to fit reading into your life as a busy homeschool mom, this is the episode for you! Join me as I tell you how to fit a true feast into the nooks and crannies of your day. Show Notes Homeschool Rhythms: Morning Time Homeschool Rhythms: Rest Time Wild + Free Bundle Subscription Subscribe and get access to the booklists

Bring on the sweaters and boots and pumpkin spice lattes! Autumn is in full swing by now with falling leaves, crisp mornings, and night creeping in earlier and earlier.  I like to take time to reflect as fall begins in earnest; what changes do we need to make in routines and atmosphere to get ready for a new season? Which traditions are we looking forward to the most and are there any we want to l...

If you've listened to Part I of this episode (How to Start a Homeschool Group and why you should), you'll be delighted to hear this continuation on what to do when the group starts to grow and take on a life of its own! IN THIS EPISODE YOU'LL HEAR: How teens make a difference for the group How privacy plays into your group's growth Communicating with your growing group Membership fees and insuranc...

Doesn't summertime bring out the child in us all? Swimming in the scorching heat, drinking lemonade, inhaling the wafting scent of the grill, listening for cicadas, watching for fireflies…there is a sense of wonder that comes with summer. Use this month to tap into your inner child: Stop and smell the gardenias and jasmine. Take time. Slow down. Play and explore the great outdoors. Soak in summer...

It's been a while...but I'm back and I'm so excited to be with you again! Catch up on what's new and what to look forward to. Or, if you're brand new, get to know a little more about Homeschooling Outside the Box. You are very welcome here! You can also check out the new Nature Journal  and sign up for my free monthly "Everything" guides.

So far in this "Homeschool Rhythms" series we've talked about  morning time ,  narration ,  getting ready ,  group work ,  individual work , and  read alouds.  We've moved our way through morning activities and lunch so today we're going to talk about rest time! I know some of you might have the urge to check out right now thinking your children have aged out of this time of day but I assure you,...

For decades homeschoolers have been plagued by the question, "what about socialization" from well-meaning (and let's be honest, sometimes not so well-meaning…) neighbors, family, and friends. The question chafes at us because it assumes that the minute we begin homeschooling, we hole up in our homes and avoid all contact with any other humans. That's just not the case though; community is an essen...

So far in this "Homeschool Rhythms" series we've talked about  morning time ,  narration ,  getting ready ,  group work , and  individual work . We've moved our way through morning activities and today we're going to talk about reading aloud! I want to talk to you today about making read-aloud time a family activity for all time – no matter what your child's age. This is a beautiful part of the da...

When you ask a seasoned homeschooler about structuring the day, you will often hear the same refrain: "combine as many subjects as you can." But what about the subjects that require a certain set of skills for children to master?  You can generally look at academics in two categories: skill-based subjects and non-skill-based subjects. Skill-based subjects are really best taught 1-on-1 or in a very...

What if I told you there was a skill that would help prepare your child for any job he might pursue in the future? And what if this skill was so attainable, that you wouldn't have to purchase a fancy curriculum or join an elite co-op to access it? The pandemic that rocked 2020 has thrown us many curveballs but one positive consequence has been a rise in homeschooling. Parents all over the world ar...