The Ordinary Matters Podcast

Timetables. When you enter a group of Charlotte Mason moms, it’s bound to come up. Today we’re talking about why they’re needed, the principles Charlotte Mason offered for creating a timetable, and practical steps on building a timetable that suits your family. Want to talk more about timetables like Brittney? Join the Ordinary Matters Community: The Ordinary Matters Patreon  Books Mentioned: Teac...

We'd venture to guess that many people are homeschooling as we are; books and things all over the kitchen table. We'd also venture to say...we think it's a pretty great way to create a Charlotte Mason homeschool room. Join the Ordinary Matters Community: ⁠The Ordinary Matters Patreon ⁠ Books Mentioned: Home Education | Parents and Children | A Philosophy of Education (*affiliate links)  Connect wi...

Teaching from rest is more than just getting comfy on the couch and lounging in our pajamas. It’s a vital part of homeschooling. It’s offering an atmosphere of peace. As we discuss the atmosphere of the home, we want to start with the idea that homeschooling can be restful–if we can stay out of the ditches that present themselves.  Books Mentioned: Teaching From Rest | Home Education | Parents and...

In Season 2, we are zeroing in on some specifics of a Charlotte Mason education: our tools. The tools are limitations for us, but those limitations are a blessing. They help us reflect, assess, and adjust as we strive to make our homes where education is an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life. Books Mentioned: Home Education | A Philosophy of Education (*affiliate links)  Join the Ordinary Matter...

As we’ve come to our summer break, we’re ready to say goodbye. And as we do, we want to part with an inspiring idea for both you, listener, and ourselves. We’ve mentioned a time or two that mothers must strengthen their will for the work before them, and today, we’re going to talk about how to do just that. Because we are pursuing educations that nourish whole persons on a wide variety of ideas, m...

We come finally to our third tool of education–living ideas. We’ve talked a couple times (or more) about living books …so let’s talk about living ideas . Because Charlotte Mason wasn’t just talking about getting ideas from living books. She was also talking about the things of education. So as we head into summer break, let’s talk about the ideas that flow out of the natural rhythms of a Charlotte...

Habit training is a hallmark of the Charlotte Mason educational philosophy. But what exactly is habit training? And how do mothers put it to work in their home school rooms?  Miss Mason encourages and cautions us with this second tool of education…because we are always forming habits in our children (whether we are doing it knowingly, or accidentally). No matter what, our atmosphere, home routines...

Have you ever gone on the Charlotte-Mason side of instagram and felt like there’s no way you can afford the atmosphere of a Charlotte Mason education? We can’t either. But don’t worry. We’re pretty sure instagram has this Charlotte Mason principle off.  Books Mentioned: Home Education | Parents and Children | A Philosophy of Education | For the Family’s Sake (*affiliate links)  Join the Ordinary M...

We’ve talked in our “Charlotte Mason Primer Series” about the idea that children are born persons, and so their minds are able to deal with knowledge that is proper to them– as long as it’s presented in the form of living ideas. So we can just sit down with a nice big book stack we saw online, read it aloud, narrate and then call our kids educated, right? Still no. That is where we meet the scienc...

We apologize if the episode sounds echo-y. We had some editing issues, please be patient with us as we learn! Thanks :) Many of us grew up in classrooms in which questionnaire worksheets or activity worksheets abound, or where books weren’t read except in excerpts (and then torn to shreds by activities). Miss Mason saw these methods of teaching as deadening the child’s natural desire and ability t...

Mothers tend to busy themselves quite a bit about how to nourish their child’s physical needs. Food, sleep, activity, outdoor time…but how do we nourish their intellectual needs?  Books. Glorious books. We must put children in communication with those great minds, so they can grapple with  great thoughts. These great thoughts aren’t out of their reach–the child gets what they need from their books...

Let’s begin a little primer course on Charlotte Mason’s principles. We’ll start at the very beginning (a very good place to start) with Principle 1: Children are born persons. Which…seems a bit obvious. What else would they be?  But it’s not that they could be anything else, it’s that we treat them as something else. Because we mothers have a tendency to forget our rank, and when we do that, three...

As we make our way into Masonland, we may find that there is a whole foreign language here in this beautiful place. In Episode 2, we’ll make our own Charlotte Mason-to-English dictionary and go over some of the common phrases and words that you might hear as we enter this enchanting, but oft confusing, world of classical Charlotte Mason philosophy. Books Mentioned: Home Education | A Philosophy of...

Let’s talk about this Charlotte Mason. She was an educator, writer, and philosopher who was born in 1842. But 1842 was a really long time ago. How is what she said 100 years ago relevant in our homes today? Well, times might change, but do ideas change? Does the formation of a child change?  Consider this episode a primer on who Miss Mason was, and what she believed, and why we believe it absolute...

Welcome to the Ordinary Matters podcast, the podcast dedicated to inspiring mothers to see the ordinary matters of motherhood as the place to cultivate a life of love, wonder, and knowledge of the King. We’re your hosts, Brittney and Melanie, sisters and best friends, learning to implement the Charlotte Mason method in our homes. They say that there is no handbook for parenting, and it’s true. The...