The Commonplace

This is the principle that first sent me running from Miss Mason and eventually brought me back. Rather than have you make the same loop, I’ll save you the time and let you in on the secret now: she’s talking about a child’s character, not the state of a child’s soul. All children have the capacity for good or evil, and education should draw a child towards goodness with the best of ideas. But, I...

‘Children are born persons,’ seems kind of obvious. What else would they be born as? But as we dive deeper into this principle, it’s easy to see how quickly we forget this little truth and how, consequently, our education misses its mark. Before we ever choose a curriculum or resource, we need to understand what a child is and how they learn. This is the first principle. ---------- You can find th...

And we’re back! Have you ever noticed how much of the homeschooling content points to what you should buy for your homeschool: supplies, resources, planners, wall art, and the like? This makes sense; we moms love to share a good tip. But when we spend our time focused on this part of homeschooling, all of that clicking, liking, saving, and buying can start to feel like we’re preparing to educate o...

When I launched The Commonplace, I knew what I could offer to other moms at the beginning of the homeschooling journey, but I also knew what I couldn’t offer: experience-earned wisdom. I needed an interview addition to the podcast, and the first person I thought of was Leslie. With only Ep 00 recorded, I asked if she would consider joining me to ‘talk shop,’ and she graciously agreed. We met early...

Twaddle is such a funny word, and yet, it can strike fear into the heart of any new homeschooling mom. What if we pick the wrong books? Will our children ever recover? Will they love silly, idle talk and hideous illustrations? We worry we’ll ruin everything if we accidentally let a piece of twaddle through the door. We are, after all, the bookshelf gatekeepers. So we set out to find the best of bo...

Have you ever read a word but never heard it said aloud? And maybe you liked the word, so you used it casually in conversation only to realize later you said it incorrectly? This has happened to me many times and is happening to me every time someone listens to this episode. Fallow. Let us never forget how to pronounce /ˈfalō/. But I hope it makes you laugh and serves as a reminder that we’re all...

Education is not primarily a cognitive adventure, because born persons are not brains-on-sticks. Your children are primarily worshippers . So, the main influence within your child is their heart, which includes their cares, motivations, and desires. And how do you speak to a child’s heart? Through their imagination. _________ You can find the full episode notes here. _________ Join the 400+ m...

This episode is as much of a surprise to me as it is to you. It’s been a hard week, and I, for one, need a holiday. And I was thinking that maybe you might too. So, if you’ll allow me, I’m going to offer you and your children a fifteen minute holiday through the story of The Velveteen Rabbit . It’s about being made real by love.

We spend a lot of time thinking about the best habits for our children, but what about us moms? We’re (born) persons too, you know. But I’m not here to get into the specifics of habits you should or shouldn’t add into your rhythms. (Note: those are conversations best had with people who know you in a fuller, deeper context.) I am, however, here to talk about one of my favorite principles behind th...

What is attention? I’m so glad you asked. Miss Mason defines attention as the act by which the whole mental force is applied to the subject at hand. It’s giving your full focus to something. And, of course, Miss Mason believed a mother could train attention to be a habit if she’s able to attract and hold the child’s attention through the right motive.  That Miss Mason. Always getting to the c...

The way Charlotte Mason talks about moms and kids and obedience can easily sound like she’s frolicking in a field of whimsical flowers with a rare sort of child. It’s tempting to lift your coffee mug to your smirking lips and remind yourself that she didn’t have children of her own.  She doesn’t really know what it’s like. Or does she? _________ Ps. Yes, I have a cold. _________ You can find...

There’s a lot to habits in a Charlotte Mason philosophy: How are they formed and what part do they play in virtue? Which ones should we focus on and when? And do they really matter in the early years? The heartbeat of habit training all begins in Miss Mason’s idea of a mother’s ‘thinking love’ for her children. Moms are qualified by God to be primary shapers in their children’s lives, which means...

Young children like things repeated and unchanged. They also love to know things, memorizing what they’ve heard in an almost effortless way. These are the trademark characteristics of the grammar stage in a classical education. As a child memorizes, they form natural relationships with the world around them and learn to love what they know. It’ll happen whether or not you offer them noble ideas, m...

On your first Google search, it seems like a classical education is pretty different than a Charlotte Mason education. The former seems like a lot of memory work; the latter involves a lot of watercolor nature journaling. But in this episode, we’re going to explore the what and how behind these education methods. Spoiler alert: a Charlotte Mason education is classical. Come find out why! Don’t for...

Consider this our podcast handshake. There seems to be a gap between the starting line of the homeschooling journey and the resources in the classical world. Moms love the idea of morning time or nature journals but can easily feel overwhelmed by all the mentions of Plato and Plutarch. And what exactly did Charlotte Mason mean by twaddle? In this first season, we’ll be discussing the foundations o...